15 Myths About Sharks We Should Stop Believing

Are you the kind of person who, when you go to the beach, keep looking around to see if there are any sharks nearby? If this is the case for you, it is important to know that there are many myths about these marine predators, most of them without much foundation. In reality, we know very little about sharks and much of the information that reaches us is false, propagated mainly by film productions.

O awesome.club gathered the most common myths about sharks. Since we never know tomorrow, it’s better to pay attention.

It is true that sharks have a very developed🇧🇷 In fact, some species can smell blood at a distance of up to 400 m. Like us, they have nostrils under the snout that serve to identify hundreds of “scents” in the water. But that doesn’t mean a shark will always attack if it smells blood. Most likely he won’t.

Let’s say you’re swimming and you hurt your foot. For the scent of blood to reach a shark it needs to travel at great speed, and that depends on the ocean currents. In addition, the shark needs to identify the scent and decide whether or not it is attractive. And this is impossible if the animal is many kilometers away. So, swim calmly to the beach for a bandage.

There is a belief that sharks love human flesh and that if you’re swimming and you see one in front of you it goes straight to your belly. This is an error. Each type of shark has a different taste and they vary greatly.

The lemon shark, for example, loves eat shellfish, small fish and some types of birds that get lost in the ocean, but don’t like human flesh. So, although it has a sense of smell that allows it to detect the scent of blood from several kilometers away, that doesn’t mean the shark will necessarily want to eat meat.

If a shark attacks a swimmer, it usually doesn’t do it on purpose. This usually happens by chance or confusion. Most likely the animal thought to see a sea lion or a seal. Another reason is curiosity. If something in the water catches the shark’s attention, it might come over to chew a little and see if it’s worth continuing to eat.

To understand why this myth isn’t entirely true, you need to learn two things about shark breathing. They have two ways to get oxygen. The first is called buccal pumping — the animal uses its cheek muscles to draw water out of its mouth and expels it with its gills. Thanks to this breathing method, these giants can be quiet, resting at the bottom of the sea.

The second way is called ram ventilation🇧🇷 In order for the gills to obtain oxygen from the water, the shark must keep moving. Maybe that’s why people imagine that if he sits still, he stops breathing and dies. Of the 400 species of sharks that exist in the ocean, only 20 use ram ventilation.

There is never a lack of scenes of sharks jumping and crossing the surface of the water in movies. Such an image is rare to see in nature. In reality, only the White shark can jump up to 2.5 meters above sea level and does so to hunt. To see a scene like this, you would have to travel along the coast of South Africa, because this phenomenon only occurs there.

Maybe you’ve heard from a diver that a good strategy to escape a shark attack is to hide yourself among the jellyfish. A bad decision. Sharks are not afraid of jellyfish because their skin is too thick to feel anything. although they have sensitive eyes, they can cover it with a special membrane if necessary. If you run into a shark while you’re diving, the last thing you should do is run towards jellyfish because you’re going to get hurt.

Not all sharks hunt to survive. The whale shark, for example, looks frightening for its size — it reaches 12 meters; however, he feeds on plankton, which filters with the modified gills. Another species, the nurse shark, feeds on lobsters, rays and sea urchins.

In every ocean there are sharks. The same happens in deep or coastal waters, in estuaries and even in certain rivers. Do not see a shark does not mean that there are no sharks in the region. What happens is that most likely they are hidden.

Ask a child to draw a shark. Most likely you will receive a drawing with the typical image of a fish with fins, menacing teeth and an angry look.

As we have already said, there are around 400 species of sharks, of the most varied types and sizes. The smallest measure 20 cm and live in deep water. Others are huge, which is the case of the aforementioned whale shark.

But not all of them have sharp teeth. The horned shark has teeth in the form of molars, which are used to crush the shells of turtles. The peregrine shark has practically no teeth; he feeds otherwise.

Sharks have a reputation for being fierce, relentless and bloodthirsty. But it is possible to scare a shark and make it go away. If you find one, try to be aggressive and swim towards it. It is very likely that he will run away. Of course, nature isn’t always completely predictable, but that’s what experts recommend. Most attacks on humans happened because the swimmer was distracted and didn’t see the shark coming. Remember: your reaction matters a lot in these cases and the main thing is not to panic.

Another idea that many people believe is based on movie scenes where a shark appears swimming on the surface. In fact, most prefer deep waters. It is there that they find better conditions to feed themselves.

This idea is a big lie. Sharks can attack and bite any angle🇧🇷 So it is always important to be careful.

greenland shark

Some uninformed people believe that sharks can live over a thousand years. In fact, the average lifespan of a shark is 70 years🇧🇷 However, for every rule there is an exception. The Greenland shark lives between 300 and 500 years. The secrets to its longevity are the ice water and its enormous size. This combination causes their metabolism to be extremely slow, which is why the animal takes so long to age.

Another myth created because of the movies. What sharks have is a similar organ to our language, called basihyal🇧🇷 It is a part of the frontal cartilage that runs from the chest to the mouth and serves to hold the skeleton. But he does not participate in the feeding process.

Movie producers really stuck unrealistic ideas into people’s heads. It is very common to see scenes where the shark swims backwards, afraid of falling into a trap. The shark’s anatomy doesn’t let him do that. It only propels itself forward with the help of its tail and fins, but not able to swim backwards.

Do you know any other myths about sharks? Have you ever had the opportunity to see one live at sea? What did you do? Share your story in the comments.