The Sharks of South Africa

Posted on September 4, 2008
Filed Under Africa

Sharks are really fascinating creatures! Feared by mankind for their fierce eating habits and their vicious look, but still are we so intrigued by this majestic creature. Sharks have become rather popular; constantly to be seen in news reports and in Hollywood movies, hunted by some, researched by the shark lovers and with shark cage diving increasing in popularity all around the world, especially in South Africa, people can’t seem to get enough about the king of the ocean. On that note, below are a couple of interesting things about sharks you may not have known.

• There are more than 360 shark species, but only four of them present any realistic threat to humankind in that they’ve been known to attack humans: The Great White Shark, Bull Shark, Tiger Shark and the Oceanic Whitetip Shark. Mostly these attacks are provoked and a lot of the time they are a case of mistaken identities. There are other shark species that have attacked humans but rarely been the cause of death.

• Sharks don’t always bite, just sometimes. Most often they bite to determine if the object is worth their digestive time. If they’ve bitten it and don’t think it is worth their while they will leave it and find something better. It is almost like people inspecting a menu deciding what to eat. If we aren’t satisfied we’ll just look for something else or find another restaurant.

• According to experiments it has been concluded that sharks may be afraid of dolphins. To top that there have been stories that dolphins have protected humans from sharks before. Mythbusters tested this theory by putting a mechanical, made-up dolphin where a great white shark was feeding near a seal cutout and raw bait. But instead of the shark going for the bait or dolphin he avoided both of them.

• It is possible for female sharks to reproduce and give birth without having any physical contact with a male shark. Not always, but sometimes. One particular case has been documented of a female shark not having had contact with a male shark in three years, but has given birth to a baby shark without any parental DNA present; resulting in the newborn almost being an exact replica of his mother.

• In some cultures sharks are worshipped as gods. At some islands like Hawaii where there are many sharks, it is no surprise that they model a shark as a god. The story has it that some of these models can transform from human to shark. Some stories even tell of the sharks first being of human nature. One particular story tells the fable that the shark in human form warned beach-goers about the sharks in the water. But the people on the beach ignored the human-shark, and was later eaten up by the same shark that originally gave the warning.

• Sharks are said to have been living on earth for 400 million years. When a shark dies its cartilage dissolves and its teeth drop to the bottom of the ocean where it is covered with sandy sediment which prevents oxygen and destructive bacteria from reaching the tooth and that is why when you find a shark tooth fossil it is grey, black or brown and not white of colour.

Perhaps you’re fascinated or intrigued enough by sharks to get closer to some. For the experience of a lifetime, take a trip down to South Africa and go shark cage diving to get an in-depth close-up of this incredible species.