Shark Number Ten: The Basking Shark

Statistics

• Second largest shark in the world
• Can grow as long as 40 feet
• Can weigh as much as 19 tons

The basking shark is not a predatory shark but a filter feeder, meaning it pushes water through its gills, filtering out plankton and small invertebrate fish. It is the second largest shark in the world, second only to the Whale Shark. It is a slow moving, harmless shark that lives in all of the world’s oceans. In winter, basking sharks move to depths of up to 3,000 ft to feed on deep water plankton. They can filter as much as 1,800 tons of water per hour.

They have a typical ‘shark’ body type and have been mistaken for the Great White. Commonly, their coloring is dark brown or black, fading to a dull white at its belly.

Basking Sharks do not evade approaching boats (unlike great white sharks). They are harmless to humans if left alone and are not attracted to chum.

Reproduction

Basking sharks are ovoviviparous: the developing embryos first rely on a yolk sac, and there is no placental connection. Gestation is thought to span over a year (perhaps 2 or 3 years), with a small though unknown number of young born fully developed at 4 ft 10 in–6 ft 7 in. Only one pregnant female is known to have been caught; she was carrying 6 unborn young. Mating is thought to occur in early summer and birthing in late summer, following the female's movement into shallow waters.

Other facts

The name basking shark is derived from their habit of frequenting the warmer water on the surface, as they look like they're basking in the sun.

Basking sharks are found in cold to warm temperate waters across the globe. They can be seen singly or in groups (of up to 100 members) near the surface of the water. Basking sharks are mostly seen from the surface to a depth of around 3000 feet.

Video

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basking_shark
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/basking-shark-facts.html

Update

As you've noticed, or not noticed maybe, I haven't blogged for a few days. There are a few things going on. My father in law was admitted to the hospital for an emergency triple bypass surgery on Friday. My mom left for the airport on Sunday and I drove her to Sacramento (3 hours from me), spent the night in a hotel and drive home the next day.

Those are two of the reasons I haven't blogged, but the third reason is probably the biggest: I've lost my motivation. I haven't lost my interest, not by a long shot. But I feel like I'm wasting my time. I guess I thought people would read and comment and interact and I would feel like I was making a difference, or at least entertaining people. But I don't think anybody reads this except for my husband (Thank you for your support honey. I love you). I didn't realize how time consuming this would be when I started. Each blog takes me between 1 and 3 hours to put together. I have to do the research, compile it in a format that I think will be interesting and have continuity, find video (which means watching each potential one to see if it's what I'm looking for), find pictures that depict the animal in the most interesting way, cite my sources, proofread it, copy it from my word document and past it here, then edit it (because it doesn't paste certain features from Word) and post it.

I don't think that effort would bother me if it served the intended purpose. I guess I feel like I'm talking to myself. In the case that somebody stumbles across this who doesn't know me, I am a stay at home mom of 5 kids. I am busy. I am constantly being pulled in 5 (or more) different directions. I have to sacrifice my time for this blog, for what is starting to seem like no reason.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I don't want to quit. I want to see this through. The only way I can figure to keep myself doing this blog is to take the time frame off. I wanted to do this in one year. That, I think, is unrealistic for somebody with my lifestyle. I think it would be best for me to work on it in my spare time. Then, I wouldn't feel like I was taking away from my family and other responsibilities to do it, and if nobody reads it, it may not feel so much like a waste of time.

I figure that if I don't remove the one year time frame, I will end up getting so far behind that I will feel there's no way to catch up, and I'll just quit all together. So I'm going to try this. I'm going to remove the time frame and not feel obligated to blog every day.

Day Ten: The Angel Shark

I first saw these guys on Shark week a couple weeks back. They are really cool sharks. I’m excited to tell you about how they eat. It’s really cool. I’ll make sure to link a video of them eating.

Statistics

• Commonly grow to a length of 5 feet
• Found in shallow tropical water

The angel sharks are an unusual genus of sharks with flattened bodies and broad pectoral fins that give them a strong resemblance to skates and rays. The 16+ known species are in the genus Squatina, the only genus in its family, Squatinidae. They occur worldwide in temperate and tropical seas. Most species inhabit shallow temperate or tropical seas, but one species inhabits deeper water, down to 4,300 ft.

Feeding

Although this shark is a bottom dweller and appears harmless, it should be respected due to its powerful jaws and sharp teeth which can inflict painful lacerations if provoked. It may bite if a diver approaches the head or grabs the tail. If they are left alone they will not attack.

They bury themselves in sand or mud lying in wait for prey, which includes fish, crusteaceans, and various types of mollusks.

I think this is the coolest thing! Watch this!

AWESOME!! I could watch that over and over again. That thing is RAD!

Reproduction

I couldn’t find much about the reproduction of angel sharks. I did find that they are ovoviviparous (give birth to live young) and have litters of up to 13 pups.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_shark
http://schools-wikipedia.org/wp/a/Angel_sharks.htm

Day Nine: No Blog

I didn't blog yesterday, which was day nine. I was busy and tired and a little burned out. I'll do my best to get one up today. :)

Day Eight: The Galapagos Shark

Statistics

• Can grow to 12 feet in length
• Can weigh as much as 200 pounds
• Found off tropic oceanic islands
• Lifespan is at least 24 years

According to the International Shark Attack File, the Galapagos shark has been responsible for one fatal attack on a swimmer in the Virgin Islands. Inquisitive and persistent, the Galapagos shark is regarded as dangerous to humans and diving unprotected is not advisable in areas where they are abundant. They are known to approach close to swimmers, showing interest in swim fins or hands, and are drawn in large numbers by fishing activities.

Feeding

This shark feeds primarily on bottom-dwelling fishes as well as on squid and octopus. These fish include eels, flatheads, groupers, flatfish, and triggerfish. The Galapagos shark displays threat gestures to warn competitors in the search for food. Large sharks are potential predators of the Galapagos shark. Cannibalism is also reported within this species.

Reproduction

Galapagos sharks are "viviparous", or livebearing, with embryos nourished by a yolksac-placenta during gestation. Mating and birth occurs early in the year within Hawaiian waters. Female individuals often have mating scars from males biting the gills, fins, and body. After gestation during which the embryos develop inside the mother, live birth results in a litter size of 4-16 pups. Each pup measures 24-31 inches in length. The pups stay in shallow water nursery areas to avoid predation and cannibalism from members of their own species, eventually moving out to deeper waters as they mature. Males mature at 7-8 feet long and 6–8 years old, while females mature at 7½-8½ feet long and 7–9 years old. Neither sex is thought to reproduce until 10 years of age.

These sharks are very beautiful. Here’s a video of one up close.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galapagos_shark
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/galapagosshark/galapagosshark.html

Day Seven: Epaulette shark

I’ll be honest with you; until I started doing research for this blog, I had never heard of the Epaulette shark. So today, we learn together!

Statistics

• Typically 27-35 inches long
• Common in Australian waters
• Found in shallow water

These are some pretty cool looking sharks. The colors seem very vivid from what I can tell in the pictures.

Feeding

They are opportunistic predators, and their prey items include worms, small fishes and crabs. Something I found interesting in my reading is that, unlike other sharks, they will chew their food for up to 10 minutes. They are of no danger to humans, and are easily caught by beach goers because of their slow movement and their fearless nature. They hunt using primarily their sense of smell and electro-receptive senses. It is capable of sucking prey into its mouth.

Reproduction

Unlike the other sharks I’ve blogged about, this shark does not give birth to live pups. Mating takes place from July until December. The female drops her egg capsules two at a time every 14 days, producing a total of 20–50 eggs per year. The young emerge after 120–130 days, at a length of 5½ to 6 inches.

Interesting Facts

The epaulette shark moves by seemingly walking, bending its body from side-to-side and pushing off of the substrate with its paddle-shaped pectoral and pelvic fins. The shark only swims to escape from a threat, and then not very far.

Epaulette sharks are found in shallow water to a maximum depth 160 ft, and are often seen in water barely deep enough to cover their bodies.

Adult epaulette sharks are beige to brownish above with many widely-spaced brown spots and subtle darker bands. There is a very large black spot ringed in white located behind each pectoral fin; this pair of spots are the origin of this shark's common name.

Because plants in tide pools don’t produce oxygen at night, creatures that live there use up all or most of the oxygen during the night. Epaulette sharks caught in tide pools by the receding tide can turn off enough body functions to survive several hours with little or no oxygen.

Video of Epaulette Shark

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epaulette_shark#Description
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/AnimalDetails.aspx?id=780268

Day Six - No Shark Blog today

It's 11:30 PM on Sunday, and I am really tired. I'm going to have to figure out a schedule for fitting all of these sharks in within my time frame and still give room for skipping a day. I might take Sundays off. I'd like to take weekends off completely, but that's going to give me quite a bit of catching up to do every week.

I'll be back tomorrow with another shark blog, but for now... I must sleep!

Have a great week everyone.