How much do you really know about sharks? Can you tell fact from fiction? In this week's episode, Laura and Katy go snout to snout to see who can spot the lies when it comes to these amazing aquatic predators!
How much do you really know about sharks? Can you tell fact from fiction? In this week's episode, Laura and Katy go snout to snout to see who can spot the lies when it comes to these amazing aquatic predators!
Hello and welcome to For the Love of Nature, a podcast where we tell you everything you need to know about nature and probably more than you wanted to know. I'm Laura.
Katy\:And I'm Katie. And today we're going to be talking about sharks and their importance in the ecosystems. I just made that up. We didn't talk about what the message is going to be. That is a great one. It is a great message.
Laura:But sharks are, I feel like sharks get, all the attention, but still not as much love as they deserve. Yes.
Katy\:Yes. I'm getting a shark tattoo. Did I tell you about that? No. The jaws. So, so I'm going tomorrow to get that other tattoo. And before, so it's by, okay, so the guy that did the flower, I'm sure everybody's seen the flower on my own, the magnolia that's for my dad and my pep, the same guy who's doing that, I have an appointment with him at 10 o'clock to talk about like a shark jaw and then, and that's to be about an hour long appointment, like just, it's just like the consult, like figuring out where and every size and everything like that. And then right after that is the other person that he shares the shop with have an appointment with her and that's why I'm getting the bird. And so, back to back, so I'll find out more about the, the jaw tomorrow. Originally wanted to do it on my elbow, but like this is here. So we'd had the, yeah. So I think we're. I don't know. I, I feel like this arm needs, I'm, I either need to go full sleeve on this arm before I start this one or else I feel like this arm's incomplete and then it bugs me and then I feel lopsided. Like, you know
Laura:what I mean? Which is so funny because it's very much on one side. Oh, it's
Katy\:very lopsided. Yeah. But it has to be like, yeah. Yeah. It's just like, Yeah, it's just like I have to, almost like it's incomplete and I can't start until it's complete. That's why I'm like doing my black back. Cause then I'm like, oh, what the bird, cause then I'm like, yeah, well, that's not really a big deal. So anyway, so yeah, sharks, awesome, awesome creatures for more than just tattoos. I mean, I don't, I don't have any nature news, let me think, I'm reading, I'm reading a new book. That a friend of mine. Sent me, shout out to Alex, called Parallel Worlds. Everybody needs other nerd friends that send No. Wait, yes, sorry. I'm like, no, yes. Yeah, so, it's, it's talking about the journey through creation, higher dimensions, and the future of the cosmos. Like, as far as alternate universes and everything like that from a physics perspective. That's way
Laura:too heavy reading for me.
Katy\:See, I like that stuff though.
Laura:Like, I like stuff. I'd like to think about it for a second. I just don't know if I could commit to the whole book. It's
Katy\:a pretty long book too, but I am pumped. And so I was asking Alex some questions, just like to get his take on stuff, because he's a big deep thinker too. And so I was asking him some things and he was like, oh here, let me, There's this book, and then he, next thing I know, he just sends me a screenshot of Amazon. Everybody needs friends that just send them books. Um. Yeah. So yeah, so yeah, so I'm excited to read this. So I'm sure I'll have nature news as I start reading this.
Laura:Um. I'm worrying about parallel universes. Mm hmm. I cannot think about that those exist. It's too much. Yeah, cause it's talking. Like, like I did like, like I like watching, like when it's fictional. Sure. Like, I got really into The Flash for a hot second. Mm hmm. Like, the superhero guy. Yeah. I was constantly going into, like, parallel worlds because it goes so fast. That, fine. But if I actually thought it existed, and then all my mistakes triggered some other path, it's too much responsibility. It's too much responsibility.
Katy\:Yeah, because it talks about latest innovations in string theory and its most recent iteration, M theory and just all kinds of stuff. Yeah. I, I like, I don't know, I like thinking
Laura:about that stuff. Yeah, I can give you the highlights. Like, I'll be excited for that, but, yeah. Otherwise, I might have a panic attack. I had to almost leave church again the other day because of the sermon that was talking about heaven too much. All right? And you were like, I gotta go. I gotta bounce. I can't think about the afterlife too much, which is crazy. Yeah. Like, I can't. It's too heavy. I was listening to, I was, I was like,
Katy\:I was listening to this podcast and dang, I have to go back there and, and find it. But again, it was this, well, what was a sociology one? And they were talking about gen Z and how millennials so many millennials have, and it's again, I mean, this is nature news from sociology. Um, talking about how so many millennials have left the church because of like just the extreme size that the church has taken and that the effects of that, that has on Gen Z and that that's why so many people are like, especially Gen Z are relying so heavily on astrology and crystals and like, and it's mostly because behavioral is that they don't have like, you figure when most kids went to church, you have that, that community that cohesive grouping. And Gen Z didn't get that. The generation like my son then is and a lot of them aren't getting that. And so people, sociologists are starting to say that because this is the first time throughout history where the vast majority of people aren't going to church or like an organized religion. Like they could still believe in God, but they're not like taking their kids to church every week. Um, and so they're starting to study the repercussions of that. And I say repercussions, not that like organized religion is a Good or bad thing, just the repercussions of not having those like, that can, yeah, that social group, that community, that core of beliefs that guide you. Yeah. So it was really, really interesting. Well, right. Cause it
Laura:could be like, it could be really good or really bad. It just depends. Because you'll choose your own stuff, which is a dangerous, interesting thing.
Katy\:Yeah. Alrighty. We want to go into sharks.
Laura:Yeah, and this episode is kind of different than how we normally do things. We've decided we'd play a little game. Play a little game. We're going to do two truths and a lie. Where we're going to read each other some sharp facts and sprinkle in some lies and see if the other person can guess them correctly.
Katy\:Just sprinkling a little lies here and there. Alright, do you want to go first? Uh, sure. Okay. I'm gonna, I'm gonna mute myself and eat some more french fries, because I'm still hungry. Yeah, yeah.
Laura:Don't subject me to the delicious sounding crunch. I'm
Katy\:crunching french fries.
Laura:Okay. So I'll just preface it by the species that these facts and or lie is. So this is the shortfin mako shark. Um, which I, so I've heard of all of these sharks before that I'm doing, but I didn't really know anything about them, which I'm always excited about to do, because like, whenever we do episodes, I'm like, Oh, cool. Now I get to learn something. So the shortfin mako shark, here we go. Which of these is the lie? The shortfin mako shark is the fastest shark in the world. The shortfin mako shark. Are nourished, well their pups are nourished by a placenta, or that the short fin mako shark can change its body temperature depending on the environment.
Katy\:Ooh. I think the second one is true. The placenta one. The placenta. Yeah, even if it's not that shark, there is a shark that does that. Um, and then it's the fastest, or what was the third one? The
Laura:fastest, or changing
Katy\:body temperature. Let's do the third one. Is it a lie? The body temperature? Yeah. But I feel like that one's true. But yeah, let's go with that one's a lie.
Laura:All right. Great guesses. But number two, nourished by placenta is a lie. But you're right. There are other sharks that do that.
Katy\:Another shark does that. Yeah. Okay. Because I was like, I know that's true for one of them. For
Laura:a shark. I just don't remember which shark. Dude, sharks are crazy in their reproductive Techniques, and we're going to get into it with my further sharks. So a little bit about why these are true and, and, or not true. So the short fin mako shark is indeed the fastest shark in the world. They can swim 45 miles per hour, making them one of the fastest fishes in the ocean. So I looked it up, sailfish are the fastest and then, you know, swordfish and a couple of other guys like that. But then the mako shark, they can go like 60 to 85 miles an hour. Some of those guys. But the mango sharks being 45 miles per hour is still really freaking fast. Yeah, for a shark. That's a big shark, okay? Because they can get anywhere from, the average is 10 and a half to 12 and a half feet. That's a big animal.
Katy\:Yeah, imagine that. Yeah, 45 miles an hour through the water. Yeah, that's insane. Through the water. Yeah, that's terrifying.
Laura:Terrifying. Terrifying. Look up a mango shark, they can look terrifying. And not only can they swim that fast through the water, but they're known for doing incredible aerial leaps out of the water. So, like, they can jump really high out of the water. Probably because they're going so fast. Okay. I'll do the other truth. That they can change their body temperature, which is really weird for a fish. Because fish are cold blooded. But these Mako sharks, a couple of other shark species and tuna fish have this weird adaptation where they have special blood vessels, like, well, they have a special system in their body. Yes. Counter, countercurrent exchange.
Katy\:Yeah. I can't remember if I talked about it, but I did read about it on one of the, either could you ride that or could you fight that, that I did on a tuna fish? Yeah. Maybe you
Laura:did about it. Cause you wanted to ride the tuna or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Katy\:Really bad.
Laura:Yeah. Really bad. Um, well, my guy eats tuna. So, the countercurrent exchange, I feel like we didn't get into it, and I had to, like, kind of look it up how it all works. So, the heat that is produced by the shark's metabolism in their muscles, like, they're swimming, they're swimming, and, of course, that's creating heat. That heat is then, uh, Taken from the veins, so the, you know, arteries bring blood to things, veins take things away. So, arteries are bringing in freezing cold water that has come from their gills, because that's where they're breathing. So that's freezing water. That is entering their body. They don't want freezing cold water to hit their organs and their muscles, because then it would slow them down. So instead, the vessels, or the veins that are all warmed up, They're right beside the arteries, so the heat is transferred between the two. So, it's, it's, they're, they're side by side, it's a side by side system. So they're like, you know, kind of keeping it lukewarm in there. So they're not true, they're not truly warm blooded. They're technically what's called regional endotherms. Endotherm meaning an animal that can create its own heat. And it does help them to keep their, their body temperature slightly warmer than the surrounding water. So, it depends, like, on how cold the water is by how much they need to kind of work at it. You know, of course, everything you read is in the metric system, which is fine. It's fine. I just figure I should say so. They can keep their bodies 5
Katy\:to 14. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine in the metric
Laura:system. I it. I have to do all the conversions when I read it. They can keep their body temperatures 5 to 14 degrees Celsius above water temperature, which then translates to 11 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit above the water temperature. So like, if the water is like, you know, 60 degrees, they could be like 71 inside. If the water is 40 degrees, they could be 65 inside if they needed to be. Hmm. This allows them to be more efficient hunters and to migrate much further, which helps them to take advantage of food and reproduction. So, like, they can go way further. Like a tuna. Like, they're all about migrating. And then finally, the lye. They are nourished by placenta. Not true. Though they do give live birth, the pups are not nourished by placenta, but that doesn't mean that what's going on there isn't freaking cool. So, originally, They're what's considered ovoviviparous. Let's try and say that one fast. So that's when they have eggs inside that hatch internally. So first, they have a, they're just in a little sack. And they have a yolk attached to them. Then they hatch inside their moms. And typically, like with a lot of animals, that's when the birth happens. You know, they don't just hang out in there. Not for sharks, apparently. These little sharks are just hanging out inside their moms for 18 months. Snacking on either their underdeveloped siblings, or, or... Which is so harsh. Yeah, or she just keeps producing unfertilized eggs. Like, she's just cooking them breakfast in there. Like, they're just snatching and snatching on eggs. Way to go, mom. Yeah! So, they hang out in there, eating up, eating everything. And finally, once they reach two feet long... Then they come out and there are 12 of them in there, 12, two foot long sharks inside eating. That's uncalled
Katy\:for, again, that's uncalled for, like. That
Laura:is intense.
Katy\:Uh,
Laura:and then just to end it on a couple of Mako shark facts, just to lay the groundwork for these sweet, sweet sharks. Like I said, 10 and a half, 12 and a half feet. Typically, they're anywhere from 130 to 330 pounds. So they're actually like pretty lean. But they have been known to get up to 1, 200 pounds. So, there's some chunky ones out there. They're metallic blue on their back, white on the bottom, and they have coal black eyes, like straight demon shark. Um, they are found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. They're pelagic, which means they live in open water, preferably tropical and temperate offshore water. Highly migratory, active hunters eat mostly bony fishes, including large tuna, also squid, also dolphins. Generally solitary. There's only ever been, there's only been three attacks on humans since 1974, which I think is pretty good. I mean, you're a giant predator. And finally IUCN, which we've talked about here on the podcast many times before. That's the people who, you know, list the endangered species internationally. They listen as endangered. And that is for 2 reasons. 1 is by catch, which is going to come up. Yep. Sharks. That just means when you're fishing, you accidentally catch things. You don't want a lot of times it's sharks. Can you imagine accidentally catching something 12 and a half feet long? Right, it's horrible that there's nets that can do that. But the other 1 that's kind of unique about this shark in particular. Is that there's they have the problem of overfishing. For sport fishing, like swordfish fishing, that's what they're doing with these because they put up such an epic fight. They leap out of the water the fastest. So these are like trophy fish, except they're sharks. And even when it's catching release, the mortality rate's pretty high. Even after you release it because of the stress on the animal or like scrambling into a boat at high speed. So. That's a mako shark. Pretty cool sharks. Yeah, that is neat.
Katy\:Alrighty. My two truths and a lie. Hit me. Alright, I'm going to talk about lemon sharks first. I just
Laura:love anything that's called lemon shark. It's so cute. It just sounds so cute.
Katy\:Alright, here's my three statements here. Lemon sharks can tolerate fresh water and sometimes found in rivers and estuaries. So fresh and salt water. Lemon sharks are one of the few shark species that can only, that can blink both their eyes. Uh, and then. Oh, wink.
Laura:Like they can wink.
Katy\:But also blink. Like. Okay. It's not like an actual, it's an actual blink. Um, lemon sharks are named after their yellowish brown skin, which looks like the color of a lemon.
Laura:Oh, jeez. I feel like it's the first one's the lie.
Katy\:The freshwater saltwater. That is a true
Laura:poop. Is it? Is it? Did you? Did you do it? Is it the color? No, I teamed up for something.
Katy\:Nope. That's why I threw that one in there. Winking winking. Yeah. It's the
Laura:blinking winky. I shouldn't have you mean they're the first ones that can blink both eyes at the same time? Yeah, so. Sharks normally just do...
Katy\:All sharks are actually the only fish that can, like, actually blink both their eyes. Like, they can blink. Truly blink. Other fish
Laura:can't. What do other fish do? They don't. They don't have eyelids? When
Katy\:have you ever seen a fish with an eyelid, dude? I don't know. I never thought about it. I
Laura:never thought about fish blinking. Maybe they had like a, like a nictitating, like this is blinking. This is blinking.
Katy\:Yes. This is like, well, I think they still have, I think they still have, yeah, nictitating memory, but they actually can like, like their skin closes. Yes. Well, sort of. So mud skippers blink by pulling their eyeballs down into their sockets and puffer fish do something similar. So those are like the two outliers for fish. Sharks, on the other hand, they do have the nictitating membrane, which they use to blink, but they can still move enough of the muscle around where other fish are just like existing. They don't have anything. I'm just
Laura:perpetually surprised. So wait, how is it a lie that they're not the only ones that can do it? Correct.
Katy\:Yeah. Okay. Because all sharks, all sharks do it. Yeah. All sharks do it. Oh, gotcha.
Laura:Gotcha.
Katy\:Gotcha. Gotcha.
Laura:Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha.
Katy\:Gotcha. Gotcha.
Laura:Gotcha. For sure, because I'd be like, they are way more sentient than we are. Right, right. Like if a shark winks at you, it knows something. It knows. Okay. It knows
Katy\:something's up. Um, well, this group of sharks, they belong to the family Carcharhenidae. I don't, I really don't know why I always decide that I need to say it. It does. I know. I know you do. And nobody cares, but I always feel like I need to say it. Uh, yeah, these sharks inhibit tropical and subtropical waters along the coast of the Americas from the United States down to Brazil, lemon sharks are named for their pale yellowish brown color. And that's why I threw that one in there. Cause I was like, man, what if they were named after something else? You never know. Um, but it does resemble the skin of a lemon. for the most part. They have a streamlined body with a short blunt snout and reach an average length of about eight to ten feet. So, I mean, it's bigger than a human, but not huge, not great white or anything like that. Yeah. Lemon sharks are known for their remarkable ability to adapt and thrive in various habitats. They can be found in both shallow coastal waters and deeper offshore areas. These sharks are highly sociable and often gather in large groups forming schools that consist of dozens of individuals, which would be kind of neat. Yeah, it would be kind of cool. Their diet primarily consists of, like many other sharks, bony fish, crustaceans, and other smaller marine mammals. Lemon sharks have a unique hunting strategy utilizing, like, well, I mean, unique as far as sharks go. Um, well, how they have the electro receptor organs called ampullate. Ampu Amp, sweet Lord
Laura:Pul Day.
Katy\:Yeah. Of of Lorenzo to detect the electrical fields produced by potential prey. Isn't that the same thing? It is the same thing that crocs and alligators have. Yeah. Okay. I can't remember if it was called the same thing.
Laura:And I think, I feel like it was you who were talking about the platypus that one time. Yeah. Right. Don't they have them on there?
Katy\:Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if it's called, technically, if it's called the same thing. Yeah, but it's the same. Yeah. Reproduction and lemon sharks. Lorenzini. Yeah. Yeah. Lorenzini. So these sharks, Laura talked about. Uh, the reproduction patterns of her shark. These ones are viv vivivparous, meaning that the embryo is developed inside the mother's body. Mating usually occurs during warmer months, and after a gestation period of just 10 12 months. The female gives birth to live young. Litters 4 17 pups, depending on the size and age of the female. The newborn lemon sharks are about 24 to 28 inches long and are immediately independent, fending for themselves immediately. Straight out of the
Laura:womb. They're just born so freaking big, man. No, right? Like, that's still a two foot baby? Yeah,
Katy\:it's still a two foot baby! It
Laura:is, it's a huge... I just can't imagine having that many... It's like birthing a toddler.
Katy\:Yeah, it's birthing a toddler, essentially. Yeah!
Laura:Yeah, but
Katy\:12 of them. 12 of them all at once. Well, this one can range from 4 to 17. Yeah. So anyway, in a nutshell, that's a, that's a lemon shark. And they are, let me look here. Yeah, they're considered vulnerable by IUCN. I mean, most sharks are either vulnerable or getting close, close enough if they're not endangered or anything. So these ones are vulnerable as well. So that's lemon sharks.
Laura:Oh, little lemming lemonlings, that's what I'd call their babies. That's what they should be called. Okay, I'm gonna do the frilled shark. Ooh, that's a good one. Which is just, like, unique. Um, and not a lot's known about it. But, well, from what is known, here are my things. It's
Katy\:kind of a creepy looking shark.
Laura:Yeah, and I mean, like there depends on the picture you look up to, like some of the pictures look weirder than others. It's definitely
Katy\:for me, a frail, A frail, yeah. A frailed shark looks more like an eel than Yes. Like if you're wanna mentally picture something, think of a, an eellike thing rather than a shark. Shark.
Laura:Like a typical shark. They're definitely described as having eel like bodies. That's what it says in the description. Um, okay. So, frilled sharks have rows of three pointed teeth. Sharks, frilled sharks have been around for 80 million years. And frilled sharks get their name from the appearance of their pectoral fins.
Katy\:Okay, I know they have weird teeth, so that one's gotta be true. I'm going to say because it does look like an eel, that the second one is true. So the last
Laura:one? The 80
Katy\:million years. No, no, no, that one is true, the 80 million years is true, the pectoral fins is the false one? Correct. But what, where do they get the frilled from then?
Laura:Their gills.
Katy\:Because the only reason why I think that it, oh, okay, okay. I was gonna say, because the only reason why I would think it would, the only reason why I said I definitely know it's old is because it looks so prehistoric, like it's ugly prehistoric.
Laura:It's, yeah, it's basically considered like a primitive shark. Yeah, it's ugly. Um, so the truth, they do have rows of three pointed teeth. The teeth have three long cusps with a tiny cusplet at the base of each V. Formed by the bigger ones. Basically, like, look up a picture. They have weird teeth. Yeah, they have weird teeth. They have like trident shaped teeth. There are 300 of them in 25 rows. So they have a lot of teeth. Which are perfect for holding on to slippery squid. Which is a lot of what they're eating. And allows them to eat things more than half their body weight.
Katy\:Oh wow.
Laura:So they are live there and the other one about them being 80 million years old, yes, that's true. They are considered living fossils. If you don't know what that is, shout out to our previous episode about living fossils about living fossils, basically, yeah, basically there's fossil evidence that points to this species having been around since the Cretaceous period, 80 million years ago, with very little change since then. So like, they're just, yeah, you can tell. Yeah, they're just primitive looking the lie. Like I said, it's not from the, the name comes from the appearance of their gills, not their pectoral fins. They have 6 skills total, which most trucks only have 5, so they have drawn the 1st skill at the front actually goes all the way under their chin, like a, like a little and there's a whole bunch of extra skin that gives it a frilled appearance. But just a couple quick things about them. They're actually a pretty, I mean, small shark, alright? They're still six and a half feet long, but that's pretty small for a shark. They're chocolate brown colored, which is a fun color to be. Uh, they have eel like bodies. Chocolate brown. Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans is where you can find them. And they're benthic, which means deep water. They're not like an open water. They're like deep down on the continental shelves or the near shore areas of large islands. They can be found anywhere from 320 feet. Okay, not that deep. All the way down to 4, 265 feet. So they are like a deep, deep water.
Katy\:Yeah,
Laura:I'll say. There's, it seems like there's debate whether they're viviparous, live birth, or ovoviviparous, like the last shark, the mako shark. They've never been kept in captivity, like successfully. Who would want to? Um, solitary. So ugly. I don't know. Um, they're one of the slowest sharks. They're very slow moving, which makes sense when you're going to live in such cold, deep water. They eat deep water fish, squid, and dead stuff. And they're not considered dangerous. They've never been like, they've never attacked a person that says they just have shredded some hands that tried to pick them up. But like, it's not like that. They're going to attack people again. Why would you want to try
Katy\:to pick that thing up?
Laura:Like. Yeah. Well, right. It looks like an alien. Like, yeah, don't pick up something from the deep ocean. They look terrifying. Yeah, they are listed as a species of least concern by the I U C N. They're occasionally called as bycatch, but like, we honestly don't know almost anything about the shark. That's what I was gonna
Katy\:say. I, I feel like since all other sharks, there's none. Maybe there's lots like, yeah. Yeah.
Laura:And that's it for frog sharks.
Katy\:Oh goodness. Alright, are you ready for my second one? I'm talking about bull sharks.
Laura:Yes, I remember as a kid being, like, a couple of sharks I thought were really cool as a kid. This was one of them. But that's only because I definitely know that these ones are cool. can be an issue. Like, you're like, Oh, I'm never gonna have to worry about sharks in Pennsylvania, except
Katy\:except you think you're safe. No, you're not. All right. So here's the three. Uh, Bull sharks are the most aggressive shark species and are responsible for the most shark attacks on humans. Bull sharks can swim in both saltwater and freshwater and have been found in rivers hundreds of miles inland. Bull sharks are called bull because of their powerful bite, which is said to be as strong as a bull's.
Laura:Oh jeez, these are hard. Because some of them, like, I feel like could be not true based on such a small technicality. But I am going to go with... I'm gonna jump. Uh, I'm gonna go with... The first one.
Katy\:Lie. Most aggressive? No, wait, wait, no, wait. First, first one was most, yeah. First one was most aggressive. Compared to other sharks, the second one was they can swim in both salt and fresh, and then the last one was that they're called bulls because of their powerful bite.
Laura:Hmm. Actually, maybe I changed my mind. Maybe it's a third one. Do I think that they, okay, I definitely think that they can go, I know that they can go in fresh and salt. Hundreds of miles, I they can go on both, I assume they encounter a lot of people. So I could see that they could be the most aggressive, but I'm going to go. So, okay, I'm going with third one. Third one. Third one's a lie. Yep. Third one.
Katy\:Um, reason through it, reason through it. They're called bull sharks because of their stocky muscular build. It doesn't really have anything to do with like the powerful bite or anything. It's just because they're, they're stocky. Uh, so let's see here. Bull sharks are definitely one of the ones that have earned a reputation. And I don't want to say rightfully so, but like Laura said, because of they can go so far inland. And they do cross paths with humans, uh, yeah, they've, they've done a little bit of damage.
Laura:So, regularly. Yeah. Yeah. It'd be like if we lived, you know, I mean, it's literally like living with tigers. Like. Yes. I'm sure tigers don't usually kill people, but if you're, like, poking them. Yeah,
Katy\:it's going to, yeah. Alright, so they inhabit both salt and fresh water environments, making them unique among sharks. And I, I mean, like, okay, so the other ones, yeah, they, they inhabit both fresh and salt, but like, this one can, this isn't like brackish water, this is like, fresh, like, straight up fresh water. So, they're found on coastal waters all around the world, which is another big thing. I mean, if you're found, like, pretty much everywhere. It's just, and you can go both salt and fresh water, you know, they just keeps upping their potential to come into contact with humans daily. So they can venture far
Laura:appreciate, like, I do think it's cool. Sorry. I do. Fact that they can like they're, they're generalists. Yes. I do love a good generalist, as I've said before,
Katy\:right? I really need to put that on a hat for you. Uh, so they can venture far up rivers into estuaries, even tolerating very low salinity levels like none. They are named for their stocky build. Like I said, the broad snout and the tendency to display aggressive behavior when provoked like a bull. Uh, bull sharks are opportunistic feeders with a diverse diet. They are known to consume a wide variety of prey, including fish, turtles, dolphins, birds, and other sharks. They are cannibalistic, which is why scientists believe they are more aggressive than other sharks. While all shark species have demonstrated cannibalism, bull sharks seem to kind of do it more so than others. Alright so their diet and their flexibility allows them to thrive obviously in a variety of habitats and Again, which allows them to go pretty far inland. So not only can they go in far inland and still breathe, but they can go far inland and find something to eat. So, uh, because of that adaptability, sharks, inland sharks, uh, reproduction and bull sharks follows a viviparous pattern, similar to lemon sharks. The females give birth to live young after gestation period of again, 10 to 12 months. Interestingly enough, though, bull sharks have a unique reproductive strategy called utero vi viperity, which this means that the embryos initially develop inside the mother's body, but after a certain stage, they are nourished through placental connection. This allows the bull shark pups to grow more efficiently and ensures their survival in the competitive marine environment as soon as they, as soon as they pop out. Again, they have a little bit of a boost of energy and, um, nourishment. Yep. So they do face a lot of different threats, though, because, yes, they, you know, come into contact with humans a lot, but, so that is a, a, a threat, but also habitat destruction, overfishing, like Laura said, accidental entanglement. You know, by catch. And just because they do inhibit and habitate the freshwater environments, it puts them into close proximity of just every human activity, tourism, everything. And so a lot of times they just they'll bite and they'll attack just because they're something's provoking it. And even though the person doesn't know they're provoking it, it sees it as a threat. And so it's gonna, it's gonna bite. So, but that's, that's a bull shark. Again, a cool, a very, very cool species, but at the same time, because it's just overlapping with humans so much and unfortunately just gets a bad rap. I
Laura:definitely remember reading it on like a Nat Geo. No, not Nat Geo, Reader's Digest. I think it was one of those magazines where they have like wildlife stories every once in a while. Like, reading about a bull shark coming down the Potomac, I was like, oh my gosh, like, I could, that'd be terrifying. Okay, so my last shark is the great hammerhead shark. Um, I feel like, you know, a lot of people buy hammerheads, but there are many, there are several species of them, and this is the largest, and I was like, let's go big or go home. So the great hammerhead. So here are my statements. Okay. Hammerhead sharks are diurnal hunters, meaning they feed during the daytime. Great hammerhead sharks are listed as critically endangered. Great hammerhead sharks have a belly button.
Katy\:Sorry. Um. As much as I want the belly button one to be true, I, wait, wait, hang on, hang on, hang on. Let me think about this. Because I did say with bull sharks, that utero viviparity, he had through personal connection, which I guess would technically be belly button. What was the second one? They are
Laura:listed as critically
Katy\:endangered. And the first one?
Laura:They are diurnal. hunters.
Katy\:Let's go with their diurnal because it's the water. I don't think it matters, does it?
Laura:Correct. That is the lie. All right, the two truths. They do have a belly button because just like the bull shark, they are biviparous. So technically, is it the exact same thing as a belly button? No, but there is a little scar on their bellies permanently. Listen, we're going to
Katy\:call it a belly button.
Laura:I mean, come on. It looks like a belly button. It functions like a belly button. Yes. It is a belly button. It is a belly button. Um, it is not technically a placenta, but it is basically a placenta. So, yes, they are.
Katy\:Which is not a sentence I ever wanted to say. Connected
Laura:by a yolk. Yeah, connected by a placenta. That sounds like a good, album name. Um, it's a metal band. Okay, so the first they're nourished, the first they're nourished by a yolk sac. And then shortly after that, then they get that placental connection. And crazy, these guys have a gestation of 11 months. So a really long time and they can give birth to 20 to 40. Oh,
Katy\:geez. That's a lot.
Laura:Yeah. So they got up to 40 babies in there that grew about two feet long and are born like ready to go. Truth. They are critically endangered. Due to mostly overfishing because they are one of the preferred species for shark fin soup. So they are just killed willy nilly for their fins. They're also used for leather. Their, like, their skin is used for leather, their meat, their jaws, their cartilage, and their oil. So in general, their whole bodies are used. And of course their bycatch as well. The lie was that they're diurnal hunters. That is not true. They feed at dusk. So, like a lot of sharks don't feed during the daytime. They feed as it gets closer to darkness, so. And then real quick about the great hammerhead shark. What makes them special? Dude, these sharks are freaking massive. Okay, the great hammerhead is 10 to 20 feet long. Jeez. And it's
Katy\:700,
Laura:770 to 1100 pounds. Jeez. That is a freakin big shark. Yeah. Of course the females are larger, as is almost always with sharks. They have the classic hammerhead shape, which is also known as a cephalofoil. Hmm. Why do they have this shaped head? Scientists still aren't totally sure. But they think that it helps to pinpoint prey with stereoscopic sense of smell, better vision, greater area for sense organs, more lift and maneuverability when swimming, and it helps them to pin down one of their preferred foods, rays. So like, they find a ray in the sand and then, pfft, use their eyeballs to like, finish the ground as they munch on it. Um, How much you
Katy\:guys could've seen Laura's reenactment? Pfft. Cause you squinted your eye, and you
Laura:were like, pfft. Ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. I get the character. We all say. Um, they can be gray, tan, green, or white. Or brown on their back and white on the bottom. Found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. They're both pelagic, meaning open water, and coastal. And when they're coastal, they like to hang out in reefs, lagoons, bays, inland seas. And they really like it on the warmer side. Like, they like tropical and warm temperate waters. And typically they hang out where it's relatively Can't blame them. Oh, yeah, no. I mean, they, they know what they like and they like our typically they're solitary. Their prey of choice are raised, but eat a ton of other stuff too. And unfortunately they do regularly come into contact with humans because of how shallow the water that they are in and that it's like, you know, tropical and warm and also perfect for diving. And so because they are in contact with humans, then there's conflict. So, they actually haven't attacked that many people, but they do show, like, aggressive behavior, um, like, they charge people, essentially, kind of like a bull but in almost 500 years of records, so since the 1500s, there's only ever been 37 recorded attacks, none of which have been
Katy\:fatal. Okay. That's good, at least. So,
Laura:I mean, for a 20 foot long shot. Yeah. Yeah. Like... They're really just all, all bark and no bite. And that's the great hammerhead.
Katy\:Okay, okay. What,
Laura:what was your first shark?
Katy\:Mako. Okay, Mako. I was like, wait a minute. Okay, so my last one is the thresher shark. Ooh. Go, yeah, you might, it, yeah. See if that helps. All right, Thresher sharks are one of the only shark species that cannot swim backwards. Two, Thresher sharks tails make up over half their body length. And three, Thresher sharks use their long, whip like tails to stun and catch their prey.
Laura:So, I recently went to the Baltimore Aquarium Thresher shark for probably the first time. Yeah. And I remember looking at it and being like, holy crap, that's a tail. So, I think... That it is, uh, for over half the length, the tail is true. I think that stunning their prey with it, probably true. I'm going to say the lie. I'm going to say the lie is the backwards.
Katy\:Yes. So that is correct. So there, but, but I say that is correct, but there's still a lot of controversy over it because. There's a lot of controversy over what constitutes a swim and what constitutes is just thrusting backwards, apparently. And, and again, this is like one of those weird things that scientists debate over. Yeah, like just like they happen to like move enough to go backwards. Like what is actually swimming backwards and what is like they just happen to fly backwards. So a little bit of background of the thresher shark. They're a group of shark species belonging to the Allopidae family, known for their distinct elongated upper caudal fish lobes or tails. And so there are some other ones that have longer tails, but not ones like, not as long as this one. But these ones can be as long as the rest of their body. They are named after the impressive. After the impressive tale, three species of thresher sharks are commonly recognized. The common thresher, the big eye thresher, and the pelagic thresher. Thresher sharks are found in both tropical and temperate ocean oceanic waters and around the world. Thresher sharks have a unique hunting technique that sets them apart from other shark species. They use their long, whip like tails to stun or herd schools of fish, which is, I think, is hilarious that they used to school fish, making it easier to capture their prey by striking their tails in a swift motion. Right? Which, I really, if there was a Texas shark out there, Thresher sharks, here we go. It can be like, it can
Laura:be like with that octopus, you know, what's the, what's the, what's the spurs of the squid? What's the one that like pulls off the tentacle?
Katy\:Oh gosh, I forget which one that is. Yeah, that pulls off the tentacle and uses it. Yeah, we remember we had Josh draw a picture. Yeah, we did. Yeah, I forget which one it is. Yeah. Well, these guys do that, and they strike their tails in a swift motion, they create a stunning, like a shock wave, more so, so it's more of the, kind of like a, uh, uh, mantis shrimp. How it's more like the pressure wave and everything, rather than like the actual hit of it. Whoa. Yep. So that shockwave immobilizes or stuns our target, allowing them to swiftly capture their prey. This hunting behavior is often observed during the thrush shark's impressive aerial, like aerial displays, where they breach out of the water while hunting or during courtship rituals. Reproduction in thresher shark is ovoviviparous, meaning that the embryos develop inside eggs within the mother's body. Once the eggs hatch, the female gives birth to a live young. The number of pups she can have is only two to six. And those ones can also be two to three feet long, which is aka way too freaking long. Thresher sharks, like many other shark species, face various threats. Same thing as everything else, overfishing And because of their slow reproductive rate, they only give birth every two to three years. This makes thresher sharks particularly vulnerable to population declines. Yeah, yeah. So that's the thresher shark.
Laura:Cool.
Katy\:Yeah, that was a good, I liked, I, again, I like, I know enough about sharks that I like them, but I don't know a ton about sharks.
Laura:Yeah, I was just gonna say, I, uh, I always like learning in the episodes that we do, and it's not just like. Like this one was really, I think all new stuff for me.
Katy\:Yeah. Get really getting into the nitty gritty of everything. Yeah, for sure. Alrighty guys. Well, go ahead and reach out to us on Twitter or visit our website at the nature podcast. com. And we have all of our fun merch up there. We got to add some more stuff up there, but you can get the booby mug there. At least I just want as many people as possible to get the movie
Laura:mug. And we're trying guys. We're just. Busy is so hard right now. Yeah. Having just moved.
Katy\:But yeah, go to the nature podcast and you can get the merch, check that out. And then visit us on a Patreon at for the love of nature and support us there so we can keep bringing you great content every
Laura:week. This is the last episode of this season, and we hope that you guys will bear with us as we take a very much needed break, but we promise we will be back in a month with our brand new season and lots of great new content. In the meantime, check out our little spinoff series Beastly Ballers. Which is going to be airing on the weekends, and it's going to be like a fun little analytics of football, who's going to win college and NFL games, based not only on the stats, but based on their mascots going head to head. We'll talk to you all again next month. Bye!
Katy\:Bye.