Shark Newsletter Oct 2018

 what’s even more amazing is their replaceability. In a lifetime, each shark can grow up to 20,000 of them. 
When this predator comes for you, you don't see the shark, you just see two-inch triangular teeth. For decades this ancient hunting machine has terrified beach-goers across the globe.
This mouth of razor-blades is just a necessary feeding apparatus of a super-sized fish. The great white shark is one of the world’s most notorious predators. But still, it would be nothing without its 300 serrated teeth. They’re designed to rip and grip through flesh, much like we use a knife and fork.  And its jaw crunches down with almost two tonnes of force.

We currently experience incredible diving interaction with Bronze whaler/copper sharks, a near threatened species more associated with the sardine run and small pelagic fish species here in SA! Such beautiful colouration to them, stunning sharks". 
Bronze Whalers are a social bunch of fast-swimming predators that know that there is safety in numbers. Unlike the solitary Great White Shark, they prefer large groups utilizing their numbers to their advantage both for protection and for hunting. They feed on bony fishes, such as sardines, mullets, hake and soles, as well as other prey such as sawfish, squid and cuttlefish.  Large numbers follow the winter sardine run off the southern Natal coast, of South Africa,  to feast on their favourite prey, millions of southern African pilchard.

Sharks have a variety of reproductive types. Some lay eggs (that also come in a bunch of different shapes and sizes depending on the species). Some develop eggs that hatch inside them, producing pups that then develop in the uterus and are born later.

Some shark species give birth similarly to mammals, with a placenta and umbilical cord. The umbilical cord attaches between the pectoral fins and when the pups are born, they’re left with an umbilical scar, effectively a bellybutton, which is visible for a few weeks until it heals up completely