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There are more than 500 known species of sharks living in our oceans today. Sharks are the apex predator at or near the top of their marine food chains. They regulate the populations of species below them. In research has shown that massive depletion of sharks has cascading effects throughout the ocean’s ecosystems.
Sharks belong to a family of fish that have skeletons made of cartilage and a tissue more flexible and lighter than bone. Sharks breathe through a series of five to seven gill slits located on either side of their bodies. All the sharks have multiple rows of teeth, and while they lose teeth on a continuous basis, new teeth continue to grow in and replace it those they lose.
Shark ‘skin’ is made up of a series of scales that act as an outer skeleton for easy movement and for saving energy in the water. The upper side of a shark is normally dark to blend in with the water from above and their undersides are white or lighter coloured to blend in with the lighter surface of the sea from below. This helps to camouflage sharks from predators and prey.