Sharks

• Sharks


  A type of fish with a skeleton made of cartilage instead of bones
• Shark species


  • Great white shark
  • Hammerhead shark
  • Tiger shark
  • More than 500 different species
• Sharks have been in our oceans for around 455 million years
• Shark living habits

  • Some species prefer to live alone
  • Others live in groups called a school or a shawl
• Shark habitats

  • All of the Earth's oceans
  • Freshwater lakes or rivers
• Shark diet


  • Depends on its species and where it lives
  • Most sharks are carnivores and eat fish, other sharks, dolphins, sea lions, and small whales
• Only about 12 species of sharks have ever attacked humans
• Shark attacks are not very common, more people die from bee stings each year than they do from shark attacks
• Shark senses

  Their strongest sense is their smell, they can smell a single drop of blood in the water from over 400 meters away
• The largest species of shark is the whale shark
• Shark bones are made of cartilage
• Many sharks have multiple rows of sharp teeth - they can grow up to 35,000 in a lifetime
• Shark skin feels like sandpaper
• Collective noun for a shark

  Shiver (or School, Shoal)
• The fastest shark in the ocean is the Shortfin Mako Shark (up to 74k an hour)
• The smallest species of shark is the Dwarf Lantern Shark (smaller than an adult human hand)
• Sharks do have eyelids but they don't blink
• Sharks do not see in colour
• Approximately 180 species of shark can be found around Australia
• 100 million sharks die each year
• On average, 1 person is killed by sharks in Australia each year
• Sharks commonly found off Australia

  • Great White
  • Port Jackson
  • Thresher
  • Zebra Shark
  • Tiger Shark
  • Tasselled Wobbegong
  • Whale Shark
  • Oceanic Whitetip
  • Blacktip Reef
  • Grey Nurse
  • Bull Shark
  • Bronze Whaler
  • Great Hammerhead
  • Blind Shark
  • Pygmy Shark
• Ways sharks reproduce


  • Egg laying (oviparous)
  • Live birth (viviparous)
  • Combination of egg and live birth (ovoviviparous)
• Mermaid's purses


  Shark egg cases
• Bull Shark lives in both fresh and salt water
• Sharks can detect blood from 5 km away
• Sharks can sense vibrations from 3 kilometres away
• Some sharks must swim constantly to get oxygen-rich water flowing over their gills, but others can pump water through their respiratory system