Basic Information
Sharks belong to the class Chondrichthyes, which means they have skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone!
Sharks - Facts for Kids
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Facts About Sharks For Kids
A group of sharks swimming together is called a shiver, school, shoal, or frenzy!
Sharks live in all of Earth’s oceans, from shallow coral reefs to the deep open sea more than 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) down!
Most sharks live for 20–30 years in the wild, but some species like the Greenland shark can live for more than 400 years!
The whale shark is the heaviest shark, weighing up to 20 tons (40,000 pounds) — as much as two full-size school buses
Male sharks are called “males,” females are called “females,” and baby sharks are called “pups”!
Sharks are carnivores (meat-eaters), though the largest sharks like whale sharks and basking sharks are filter feeders that eat tiny plankton!
Physical Characteristics
A great white shark can have up to 300 teeth at any one time, arranged in 5 to 7 rows.
Sharks don’t have a single bone in their body — their skeleton is made entirely of cartilage, the same flexible material that makes up your nose and ears!
The smallest shark in the world, the dwarf lanternshark, is only about 20 cm (8 inches) long — that’s shorter than a regular 12‑inch school ruler!
A shark’s skin feels like sandpaper because it’s covered in tiny, tooth-like scales called dermal denticles!
Hammerhead sharks have eyes on the ends of their hammer-shaped heads, giving them a 360-degree view of their surroundings!
Some sharks, like the epaulette shark, can actually walk on land for short distances using their fins!
The whale shark, which is the largest fish in the world, can grow to be as long as a fire truck (40 feet (12 meters)) and weigh as much as four African elephants!
Sharks have a super sense of smell and can detect one drop of blood in a backyard pool — but not an Olympic-sized one! That’s about one part blood in a million parts water!
The shortfin mako shark is the fastest shark in the ocean, swimming at speeds up to 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) — as fast as a car driving in the city!
Behavior & Intelligence
Sharks don’t sleep like humans. Some need to keep swimming to breathe, so they rest by slowing down and becoming less active. Others can “turn off” one side of their brain at a time, allowing them to rest while still moving.
Great white sharks can jump completely out of the water (called breaching) and reach heights of up to 10 feet (3 meters) — that’s taller than a basketball hoop!
Some sharks, like lemon sharks, form friendships with other sharks and can remember them for years!
Nurse sharks often lie on the ocean floor in groups of up to 40 sharks, almost like they’re having a slumber party!
Some sharks migrate over 12,000 miles (19,312 kilometers) in a year — that’s like swimming from New York to California four times!
Sharks can learn to solve puzzles and navigate mazes, showing they’re much smarter than people once thought!
Port Jackson sharks always return to the exact same breeding grounds each year, using the Earth’s magnetic field like a natural GPS!
Mother sharks don’t stay with their babies after birth, but they choose safe places called shark nurseries to give birth.
Thresher sharks use their extra-long tail fins like a whip to stun fish before eating them!
Caribbean reef sharks sometimes line up in an orderly fashion when waiting their turn to be cleaned by smaller fish!
Habitat & Survival
Sharks can be found in all of Earth’s oceans, from the freezing Arctic to the warm tropical waters near the equator!
Some sharks, like the bull shark, can swim in both salt water and fresh water, and have been found thousands of miles up rivers!
The Greenland shark lives in waters so cold that it helps them live for up to 500 years, making them the longest-living vertebrate known to science!
Bamboo sharks can survive out of water for up to 12 hours by holding their breath!
Some deep-sea sharks live more than 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) below the ocean surface — that’s deeper than 25 football fields stacked on top of each other!
The megalodon went extinct about 3.6 million years ago, when the oceans got too cold for them to survive!
Cookie-cutter sharks get their name because they take round bites out of larger animals, leaving cookie-shaped holes!
Some sharks, like the wobbegong, have skin flaps around their mouths that look like seaweed, helping them hide from prey!
Sharks have survived five mass extinctions that wiped out most other species on Earth!
The angel shark buries itself in sand on the ocean floor and jumps out to catch passing fish, like a hidden trap door!
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