One of the most popular bits of pop culture as well as one of the most interesting carnivores on the planet is the shark. In 2019, stories about shark bytes blazed through online communities upping the popularity of these heavily misunderstood man-eaters. Often portrayed as the villain in classic films like "Jaws", or the newer "The Meg", the sharks are heavily painted as scary predators, but with these stories, insights about real conditions of these predatory animals in the natural world is revealed.
1. Great White killed by a fisherman
These sharks are getting endangered and the bigger the shark means older shark that will benefit the ocean ecosystem. Killing them is not advised, but one California angler got the book by killing one. Earlier a great white killed was found washed ashore, in Can Beach at Aptos, California. Sharks are important chains in the ecosystem, and their loss by fishing shooting and hunting will not be good.
2. A shark will eat anything
They are a voracious creature and known for their habits of biting into things too. Chomping down on a sea turtle must have been an exploratory bite, and that caused choking for the shark. Amazingly, the shark was able to eat a whole sea turtle too. This is one rare event, even in the animal world. These are the living garbage cans of the sea, and they are opportunistic predators that it eats anything it comes across.
3. Big fish gulps down a small shark
Usually, sharks are the predators but some animals will eat them, especially bigger fish like the Goliath Grouper swallowing a dogfish shark in one go. Not too many fish get to gulp down a shark every day, mostly it is the opposite. Sharks come in all shape and sizes, from the dogfish to the great whale shark.
Scientists who captured it will find this one example of predation on smaller shark species.
4. The genome of the Great White
The genes of this shark have been mapped and compared to other species with backbones, which revealed a lot where they came from. These animals are genetic oddities that make them extreme alpha-predators. These cartilaginous fish have evolved a unique set of genes, that can be harvested for genetic use. Though it might make sharks more vulnerable to extinction.
5. A Pregnant shark was caught with 14 baby sharks
Sharks give birth to live young sharks and the one big female great white, captured off Taiwan had 14 pups insider her. Unintentional capturing of sharks does give scientists a way to study them up close. Learning more about shark biology should work for scientists.
6. A pocket shark that mimics a Sperm whale
It is rare to capture a mimic, especially a pocket shark that looks like a sperm whale. found in the Gulf of Mexico, which is only many different shark species in parts of oceans. Gives a reference to how sharks evolved into a diverse species.
7. The ancient Megalodon had big teeth
Compared to the great white shark, the Megalodon was more than 55-feet long and had big teeth too. In all nature, only this extinct shark had the biggest teeth. Include one of most impressive bite forces, that any animal alive or dead has.
8. Where dolphins are found, sharks are not far behind
Sharks and dolphins live in the same environment and are carnivores, the difference is that sharks are more ambush oriented predators. Compare to dolphins that mingle with humans, and are not as notorious. So, both might be at the same places but with different purposes.
These shark bytes are significant because it highlights them, and the environment. How man sees them; as a predator who is fit to be killed or a vital part of the ecosystem is still yet to be decided.
Related Article: The 10 Coolest Shark Stories of 2019
