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Sharks are far stranger than their fearsome reputation suggests, and these 10 facts reveal just how unusual they really are. From Greenland sharks that often go blind as adults to epaulette sharks that can shuffle across land, the ocean’s most ancient predators hide some of the wildest adaptations in nature.
This narrated wildlife and science explainer explores shark evolution, survival, and biology through surprising examples like swell sharks that double in size, cookie cutter sharks that leave circular bites, and species that lay spiral-shaped eggs. It also looks at why sharks have no bones, how their skin is covered in tiny tooth-like denticles, and why some can even turn their stomachs inside out. Along the way, the video touches on megalodon, great white sharks, and the fact that sharks existed long before trees.
If you enjoy animal facts, ocean documentaries, marine biology, and educational nature content, this shark facts compilation delivers a fast, fascinating look at real shark behavior and anatomy.
Perfect for viewers searching for shark facts, marine life documentary, ocean science, animal education, and wildlife narration. Ideal for anyone interested in prehistoric animals, deep-sea predators, and fascinating biology facts for relaxed learning or background listening.
This narrated wildlife and science explainer explores shark evolution, survival, and biology through surprising examples like swell sharks that double in size, cookie cutter sharks that leave circular bites, and species that lay spiral-shaped eggs. It also looks at why sharks have no bones, how their skin is covered in tiny tooth-like denticles, and why some can even turn their stomachs inside out. Along the way, the video touches on megalodon, great white sharks, and the fact that sharks existed long before trees.
If you enjoy animal facts, ocean documentaries, marine biology, and educational nature content, this shark facts compilation delivers a fast, fascinating look at real shark behavior and anatomy.
Perfect for viewers searching for shark facts, marine life documentary, ocean science, animal education, and wildlife narration. Ideal for anyone interested in prehistoric animals, deep-sea predators, and fascinating biology facts for relaxed learning or background listening.
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00Sharks have a scary reputation in part thanks to Steven Spielberg's Jaws, 1,975, which hit screens 50 years ago
00:08and has been inspiring a fear of sharks in people ever since.
00:11But while they may look threatening with their mouths full of hundreds of razor-sharp teeth, sharks don't actually attack
00:17humans all that often.
00:18Shark defenders are commonly correcting that misconception, but there are plenty of other shark facts that aren't nearly as well
00:25known.
00:25Here are 10 wild things that you might not know about the fearsome fish.
00:2910. Almost All Greenland Sharks Go Blind
00:32Greenland sharks, which swim the freezing waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, have a reputation for being a
00:38bit slow and clumsy in comparison to other shark species.
00:42But in fairness to them, almost all of them go completely blind during adulthood.
00:47While Greenland sharks are born with fully functioning eyes, parasitic crustaceans called Omatacoida elongata often quickly embed themselves in the
00:55shark's eyes.
00:55Typically, each eye is home to an adult female and several larvae, which eat away at the shark's cornea over
01:01time.
01:02Most Greenland sharks are left only with enough vision to make out light and darkness.
01:07Although not being able to see isn't exactly ideal, they have an excellent sense of smell with which to track
01:12down their prey.
01:139. Swell sharks can double their size
01:16Swell sharks aren't particularly aggressive or large, usually measuring a little less than 3 feet – 0.9 meters –
01:23from nose to tail as sharks go.
01:25So instead of lashing out at predators, including larger sharks and seals, they employ a unique defensive strategy, which is
01:33their namesake – swelling.
01:34Swell sharks will swim into a rocky crevice and then swallow large amounts of water to double their size.
01:41This allows them to get lodged between the rocks, making it harder for a predator to prize them free and
01:46take a bite.
01:47Once safe, the shark expels the water in their stomach with a dog-like bark.
01:51Swell sharks can also perform this expanding trick with air if they're brought to the surface, but it works less
01:56well for evading humans who have plucked them from the water.
01:598. Great Whites Might Have Helped Drive the Megalodon to Extinction
02:04The Megalodon went extinct around 2.6 million years ago and is the largest shark ever known to have swum
02:09the oceans.
02:10While the Great White is roughly 20 feet 6 meters in length and weighs under 4,400 pounds 2 metric
02:18tons, the Megalodon is thought to have stretched to almost 60 feet 18 meters and weighed 110,000 pounds 50
02:25metric tons.
02:26But despite being so much bigger, it's thought that the Meg went extinct thanks, in part, to the Great White.
02:32In 2022, a scientific paper was published that looked at the zinc isotopes in the teeth of both Megalodon and
02:39Great Whites.
02:40While additional research is needed, our results appear to support the possibility for dietary competition of Megalodon with early Pliocene
02:48Great White sharks, explained Professor Kenshu Shimada.
02:51Both sharks are thought to have competed for the same prey, and the Meg's massive size worked against it in
02:56this regard because it needed more food to sustain itself.
02:59Along with being out-competed for prey, cooling oceans also led to a more restricted habitat for the Meg.
03:05Both of these factors are likely what sent the huge shark to its watery grave.
03:097. Some Sharks Lay Spiral-Shaped Eggs
03:12Most sharks give birth to live pups, some of which, incidentally, cannibalize each other in the womb, but some species
03:19lay eggs instead.
03:20While bird eggs tend to be oval-shaped, shark eggs come in a variety of odd but practical shapes.
03:26The Port Jackson shark lays spiral-shaped eggs, for instance.
03:30Mark McGrother, collection manager of ichthyology at the Australian Museum, explains that this is so that the mother shark can
03:37pick it up in her mouth and screw it into rocks and crevices to anchor it so that they don't
03:41wash away.
03:42The crested horn shark lays a similarly spiral-shaped egg, but with the addition of tightly spiraling tendrils attached to
03:48the bottom.
03:49The tendrils provide another opportunity for the egg to anchor itself by getting caught up in seaweed or algae.
03:55Other alien-esque shark eggs include those of the draft board shark and the Australian ghost shark.
03:59The draft board's eggs are a bright orange-yellow color and also feature spiral tendrils.
04:04In contrast, the ribbed edges of the ghost shark's eggs make them look like a stage of the xenomorph's life
04:11cycle.
04:116. Cookie-cutter Sharks
04:13Have Taken Bites Out of Submarines
04:15In the 1,970 seconds, the U.S. Navy noticed strange circular holes in the rubber covers of the sonar
04:23domes on their submarines.
04:25They initially attributed the damage to a new enemy weapon, but after investigating,
04:29they found out that the holes were created by a previously misunderstood type of shark.
04:34The cookie-cutter shark is named for its distinctive bite mark,
04:37although the spherical shape actually more accurately resembles an ice cream scoop or a melon baller than a cookie cutter.
04:43Although cookie-cutter sharks are fairly small, the biggest ones reach just under 2 feet, 56 centimeters.
04:48They have the largest teeth-to-body ratio of all shark species.
04:52They use their lips to suction onto their chosen prey, whether it be a submarine, whale, dolphin, or, in rare
04:59cases, a human.
05:00Once locked in place, they twist their body around to shear off a chunk of flesh with their teeth, leaving
05:05a distinctive hole behind.
05:073. Sharks Don't Have Any Bones
05:10Most people have seen a shark skeleton in a film, book, or museum, but what you're looking at isn't actually
05:15a bone structure.
05:16It's cartilage.
05:17There isn't a single bone in the body of any shark species, well, aside from any bones that they've eaten,
05:23with their frames instead being comprised of the same material that forms human ears and noses.
05:29The only hard part of their skeleton is their teeth, which are comprised of enamelloid and dentine.
05:34Being light and more flexible than bone, cartilage means sharks can typically swim faster than bony fish,
05:40explains Emma Bernard, curator of fossil fish at the Natural History Museum in London.
05:45As well as enabling sharks to swim faster, it also makes their bite more powerful,
05:49because they're able to open their mouths wider, thanks to the upper jaw not being fused to the skull.
05:54The areas of their skeleton that need a bit more support, the jaws, spine, and skull,
05:59are strengthened thanks to calcium salts, which come from their diet.
06:034. Some Sharks Can Turn Their Stomachs Inside Out
06:07Some shark species have a reputation for being garbage bins of the sea.
06:12Tiger sharks in particular will make a meal of anything, including rubber tires and metal license plates.
06:17While sharks have highly acidic stomachs that can break down many substances,
06:20they aren't able to digest absolutely everything.
06:23Some species have an odd way of dealing with this, by literally vomiting their stomachs.
06:29Known as stomach or gastric aversion, this process sees a shark expel its stomach out of its mouth
06:34to rinse it out in the water and then suck it back in.
06:38There are several reasons that sharks throw up, beyond getting rid of objects that can't pass into their intestines.
06:44In many cases, it's thought to be a stress response,
06:47possibly because it's easier to escape a stressful situation on an empty stomach.
06:51Sharks have also been observed throwing food up before returning for more likely,
06:55because they've deemed a particular bite of meat to be substandard and want to make room for tastier morsels.
07:013. Shark Skin Is Made Up Of Tiny Teeth
07:04If you thought a shark's mouth was full of teeth, just wait until you learn about their skin.
07:09On a microscopic level, a shark's skin looks like it's covered in tiny, razor-sharp teeth,
07:15and that's because it basically is.
07:17These toothy scales are called dermal denticles and are comprised of dentine,
07:22the same material that coats their teeth.
07:23If you stroke a shark one way, it'll feel smooth, but the other way,
07:27it'll feel like sandpaper because of the jagged points of their dermal denticles.
07:32The shape and size of the denticles vary from species to species,
07:36but for all sharks, they serve the same two very practical functions.
07:40Firstly, the scales streamline the shark's body, which means that it can swim faster.
07:44Secondly, they provide a layer of protection, not only from other sharks taking a bite,
07:49this can happen accidentally while feeding or can be a deliberate attack,
07:53but also from smaller creatures that might want to latch on, such as parasites and barnacles.
07:592. Sharks Existed Before Trees
08:01You may have heard the fact that sharks outdate dinosaurs, they're often called living fossils,
08:05having managed to survive multiple extinction events, but did you know that they also outdate trees?
08:10In 2019, the oldest known fossilized trees were discovered in a quarry in New York,
08:15dating back 386 million years.
08:19But the oldest evidence of sharks, or rather, the ancestors of sharks,
08:23has been dated to 450 million years ago.
08:26Shark-like scales from the late Ordovician have been found, but no teeth.
08:31If these were from sharks, it would suggest that the earliest forms could have been toothless.
08:35Scientists are still debating if these were true sharks or shark-like animals,
08:39explains Emma Bernard, the Natural History Museum's fossil fish curator.
08:44The earliest shark-like teeth to have been found belonging to a fish called Doleotis problematicus
08:49date back 410 million years, which remain significantly older than the oldest known trees.
08:551. Epaulette Sharks Can Walk On Land
08:58Although the idea of a shark that can walk on land may sound scary,
09:02the epaulette shark is relatively small, around 3 feet, or 0.9 meters in length,
09:08and doesn't look all that threatening.
09:10Epaulette sharks live in the waters around Australia and Papua New Guinea,
09:14and their ability to walk on land is a skill that no other shark has mastered.
09:18When an epaulette finds itself beached, it slows its heart rate and breath to conserve oxygen.
09:23Then it uses its pelvic and pectoral fins as proto-legs to propel itself forward.
09:29Although the shark doesn't move very fast, it's able to shuffle itself back into the water.
09:34Other sharks are thankfully unlikely to develop this trait anytime soon.
09:38Epaulettes often forage for food in coral reefs and tide pools,
09:42habitats that can be covered by water during high tide but left open to the air during low tide.
09:47It's only because epaulettes find themselves beached so often that they have evolved to walk on land.
09:53It's only because of its own sea.
09:54It's only because of its own sea.
09:54It's only because of its own sea.
09:55It's only because of its own sea.
09:55It's only because of its own sea.
09:55It's only because of its own sea.
09:55You
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