Many people feel an instant surge of fear when thinking about sharks, but these aquatic creatures are quite fascinating. Sharks have a reputation of being vicious, but they are, in fact, quiet animals who tend to mind their own business unless bothered or attacked first. Stop the misinformation about sharks with these fun facts to share with your students.

50 Fun Facts About Sharks
  1. Sharks are more afraid of humans than we are of them.
  2. There are more than 500 species of sharks.
  3. A dwarf lantern shark is the smallest species of shark and only grows to between six and eight inches long.
  4.  Female great white sharks are bigger than male great white sharks.
  5. Whale sharks are the largest living fish – they can reach 50 feet long and weigh close to 20 tons.
  6. A group of sharks is called a shiver.
  7. Great white sharks can smell just one drop of blood in 25 gallons of water.
  8. Greenland sharks can live for over 300 years.
  9. Spinner sharks spin and leap from the water to catch fish, which makes it look like they are doing ballet.
  10. Sharks are relatives of manta rays.
  11. Sharks have better night vision than cats.
  12. Great white sharks have 300 teeth in seven rows and lose and grow over 20,000 teeth in their lifetime.
  13. Sharks have very good hearing – they can hear movement in the water from miles away.
  14. Mako sharks can swim more than 60 miles per hour.
  15. Sharks use electro-reception, which means they can sense electric fields sent out by other animals, including animals that are their prey.
  16. Great white sharks are the largest predatory fish in the world.
  17. Hammerhead sharks have sensors on their heads that help them find food.
  18. Sharks can be found in every ocean on Earth.
  19. Pink lantern sharks and goblin sharks have pink-hued skin rather than the grey or white usually associated with sharks.
  20. Sharks don’t have bones. Instead, they have skeletons made of cartilage.
  21. Great white shark mothers try to eat their babies as soon as they are born.
  22. Most sharks live alone.
  23. Most sharks are cold-blooded.
  24. Great white sharks are at the top of the food chain, but they are in danger from humans who illegally hunt them or overfish for them.
  25. Sharks must swim constantly to prevent suffocation because they get oxygen from the water as it moves over their gills.
  26. The longest shark ever recorded was a whale shark that measured 41.5 feet long.
  27. Sharks look smooth, but their skin feels like sandpaper.
  28. Sharks go into a trance-like state, called tonic immobility, when they are upside down.
  29. The average lifespan of a shark is 20 to 30 years.
  30. Sharks can go up to six weeks without eating.
  31. Sharks will eat anything! A full suit of armor was once found in a shark’s stomach.
  32. You are more likely to die from a bee sting or a lightning strike than a shark attack.
  33. Sharks have eyelids.
  34. Sharks can only swim forwards because their fins aren’t controlled by muscles.
  35. Sharks’ ears are located inside their heads.
  36. Sharks that live in deep water have light-colored eyes while sharks that live in shallow water have dark-colored eyes.
  37. Sharks have the thickest skin of any animal – some of them have skin that is 6 inches thick.
  38. Sharks don’t have vocal cords, so they cannot make any sounds.
  39. Tiger sharks in the womb will eat their siblings.
  40. Great white sharks eat about 11 tons of food each year. That’s 22,000 pounds of food!
  41. Blue sharks are some of the most endangered animal species in the world. They are hunted for their fins, which are used to make shark fin soup.
  42. Thresher sharks use their tails to beat their prey to death.
  43. Sharks don’t like the taste of humans.
  44. Cookie cutter sharks leave bites shaped like circles.
  45. Hammerhead sharks use their hammer-shaped head to pin stingrays onto the ocean floor.
  46. Sharks are fish, unlike dolphins, which are mammals.
  47. Some sharks give birth to live young while others lay eggs.
  48. Lemon sharks make best friends and prefer these friends to stranger sharks.
  49. A whale shark’s mouth is so wide that a small child would fit inside.
  50. Chain catsharks glow in the dark to other chain catsharks. This helps them find each other in the dark ocean.

Bust a few myths and introduce your students to the truth about sharks with any of these 50 fascinating fun facts!

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