SCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
There’s a Lot You Don’t Know About Sharks
By:
Discovery
But in the meantime, here are some fin-tastic facts you probably didn’t know about sharks.
July 02, 2020
Science doesn’t lie, but there are still so many mysteries to uncover about our favorite ocean predators.
Sharks have Two…
Did you know that there are very few observed instances of sharks mating in the wild? We do know some things about mating due to aquarium research and actual reproduction. For example, sharks have two penises, sort of.
Known as claspers, these two reproductive organs are only on male sharks and they act as the channel for the semen to enter the female’s cloaca during mating. The clasper essentially latches on to the female to facilitate reproduction.
The Truth About Baby Sharks
There are three ways that baby sharks are born, some sharks lay eggs, others birth live young--and some female sharks even store fertilized eggs for a specific gestation period which then hatch internally and are birthed.
Loading Video...
Shark sex is cool, shark anatomy is cool, really, we just love sharks.
SHARK WEEK starts AUGUST 9 on Discovery. There's a lot you still don't know about sharks.
Next Up
Shark Week: The Podcast - Why is Tagging Baby Great White Sharks So Important?
Luke Tipple speaks with Dr. Riley Elliott, a marine biologist from New Zealand who recently tagged baby great white sharks, which are rarely seen in the wild. They talk about how climate change is affecting shark pupping grounds, why fishers are wrong to think there are “too many sharks,” and about Dr. Elliott’s Great White App, which allows users to track great white sharks in the ocean.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Shipwrecked & Surrounded by Sharks
This week, we do things a little differently, as Shark Week’s Luke Tipple invites Adventure Aaron into the podcast studio to talk about his incredible near-death experience on the open water. Adventure Aaron gets into what it takes to circumnavigate the world in an ocean rowboat, what it’s like to stare eye-to-eye with an oceanic white tip that probably wants you for lunch, and everything else that happened to him when his boat was capsized, and he was lost by himself at sea.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How Many Sharks Are Yet to Be Discovered?
Luke Tipple is joined by Shark Week host and all-around adventurer Forrest Galante. They discuss his upcoming special Alien Sharks: South Africa, Forrest’s remarkable talent for finding creatures once believed to be extinct, and how many shark species may still be unknown. Then, our researcher Sierra stops by to tell us about the world’s most prehistoric shark.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How To Have A Career in Shark Science
Shark Week’s Luke Tipple tackles the question “How can I work with sharks?” alongside two experts in the field – and their answers are not always the obvious ones. Luke is joined first by Kelly Link, Associate Curator of the Georgia Aquarium who talks about what it’s like to be an aquarist, how it differs from field work, and how to get yourself noticed. The second guest is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag who goes into detail on what it takes to become a prominent scientist, and what other paths you can take if a PhD isn’t for you. And at the end, researcher Sierra stops by to tell us about the world’s smallest shark.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Do You Have the Guts to Be a Shark Handler?
Host Luke Tipple welcomes a pair of divers – Leigh Cobb and Josh Eccles – who have taken their passion for sharks and turned it into a dangerous career. They explore what it takes to swim with sharks for a living, then go into common myths and facts on what to do in the open water – if you ever come face to face with a shark. Plus, our researcher Sierra drops by with a new species of shark discovered in the freezing depths of the ocean.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Lights! Camera! TEETH! Making Shark Docs
Shark Week’s Luke Tipple is joined by longtime filmmaker and Emmy-award-winner Andy Casagrande. He’s filmed and appeared in dozens of shark documentaries, and might just be the most prolific shark cinematographer in history. He talks with Luke about his career, the contentious term “shark porn,” and the future of the industry. And at the end, our researcher Sierra talks about the unprecedented ways that sharks are currently endangered.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How Shark Fishing Funds Human Trafficking
Luke Tipple is joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the Outlaw Ocean Ian Urbina, who has dedicated his life to chronicling crime on the high seas. They discuss the state of our world’s oceans, how nearly 20% of your seafood was likely caught illegally, and the surprising link between modern slavery and the killing of sharks.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Did Alien Tech Crash-Land into the Ocean?
Host Luke Tipple is joined this week by renowned Harvard professor, Dr. Avi Loeb, who recently led a deep-sea expedition to discover if evidence for advanced alien life crash-landed off the coast of Papua New Guinea in 2014. They discuss the recent Congressional UFO hearings, how the last seventy years of research into extraterrestrial life has been potentially misguided, and the challenges of searching for tiny objects on the bottom of the ocean.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Undiscovered Sharks and the State of the Ocean
Luke Tipple invites “The Lost Shark Guy,” Dr. Dave Ebert, who is personally responsible for finding dozens of shark species that were either previously unknown to science or thought to be extinct. He and Luke discuss why shark populations are a direct indicator of how healthy the ocean is, how to find undiscovered sharks, and why diversity in sharks is essential for marine life.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Superstar Kesha Lifts the Gag Order on Saving Sharks
Pop superstar Kesha joins Shark Week’s Luke Tipple on the podcast to discuss her love of sharks, how her music funds her addiction to diving, and how you can find inner peace while under the water. And at the end, our researcher Sierra drops in to tell us that some sharks have teeth in their eyes.