Kids and adults alike are fascinated by Sharks. I am sure some of it has to do with the blockbuster movie Jaws, but also because we read about shark attacks and shark sightings more and more in the news. The perception of sharks as dangerous “man eating” monsters has definitely deeply rooted in our minds.

But that’s so little about what sharks are all about. In fact, out of the 420 different types of sharks, only 4 species have been involved in these sometimes fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans. You may even be surprised to know that the Whale Shark, the biggest shark of all is referred to as a gentle giant. The Great White Shark, the shark Champ and his friends encounter on their journey, has an infamously bad reputation for being a big bully. It is responsible for more recorded human bite incidents than any other shark.

Here are some interesting facts about Sharks!

1. Sharks have been around for 4 million years, long before dinosaurs. A shark dinosaur was called a Megalodon.

2. There are over 400 kinds of sharks!

3. The shortest shark is about 7 inches and the longest is about 45 feet! The shortest shark is a Spined Pygmy. The Whale Shark is the longest. A Great White Shark is in-between. Most are the size of a human adult, 5-7 feet!

4. Sharks have rows and rows of teeth. When one falls out a new one comes forward. They can have more than 20,000 teeth in their lifetime!

5. The most harmless shark is the biggest shark, the whale shark. (This is the gentle giant I was referring to above).

6. Some sharks have babies called pups. Some sharks have eggs that are either laid or are hatched inside mom before they are born.

7. Sharks have a super nose. They can smell their prey from far away. A shark can smell a single drop of blood in the water. Two thirds of a shark’s brain is dedicated to its sense of smell.

8. Sharks do not have a single bone in their bodies. They are made of cartilage.

9. Sharks have eyes on the sides of their heads allowing them to see in front and in back of them easily.

10. Sharks never sleep and they never stop swimming.

11. Sharks have no known predators in the Ocean, except (on rare occasions) the Killer Whale.