126 Fun Facts About Shark

What is the skeleton of a shark primarily made of?

Cartilage and connective tissue, which is why complete shark skeletons rarely fossilise and mostly teeth survive.

How many gill slits do most shark species typically have on each side of their head?

While some species like the sevengill shark have more, the majority of shark species possess five gill slits on each side of their head.

Which shark sense organs detect the electrical fields generated by prey's muscle contractions?

The Ampullae of Lorenzini are specialized electroreceptors that allow sharks to detect faint bio-electrical fields, even from hidden prey.

Which term describes shark species that lay eggs, often in leathery cases, outside the mother's body?

Oviparous sharks, such as horn sharks, lay eggs that develop and hatch externally, often protected by tough egg cases commonly called 'mermaid's purses'.

What is the primary diet of the largest known fish species, which is a type of shark?

Plankton and krill, plus fish eggs and small schooling fish such as sardines, are filtered by the whale shark, the largest fish in the world.

What is it called when sharks must swim continuously to force water over their gills?

Sharks that rely on ram ventilation must keep moving to maintain a flow of oxygenated water over their gills, or they risk suffocating.

Roughly how many teeth can a shark go through in its lifetime?

A shark's jaw is lined with multiple rows of teeth, and as old teeth fall out or break, new ones continuously rotate forward to replace them, leading to tens of thousands of teeth over a lifetime.

Which shark is known for its distinctive flattened head, which helps it scan for prey?

Hammerhead's cephalofoil spreads the eyes for a wider field of view and spreads electroreceptors to sweep the seabed for prey.

What group of animals do sharks belong to?

Sharks are classified as fish, specifically cartilaginous fish, due to their aquatic habitat, gills for breathing, and fins for movement.

Which organ, up to 30% of body mass, gives sharks buoyancy in place of a swim bladder?

The liver, filled with low-density oil, supplies most of a shark's buoyancy, but only partly, so sharks also generate lift by swimming to hold their depth.

Besides electroreception, what sense lets sharks detect vibrations and pressure changes in water?

Lateral line system pores run along the body and pick up movement, vibration and pressure gradients, crucial for hunting and navigation.

What are the small, tooth-like scales covering a shark's skin called?

Dermal denticles, or placoid scales, protect the skin from damage and parasites and cut drag while swimming.

Which shark has the longest lifespan of any known vertebrate, potentially several centuries?

The Greenland shark holds the record for the longest-living vertebrate, with some individuals estimated to live for up to 500 years in the cold Arctic waters.

What term describes sharks such as Great Whites leaping entirely out of the water when hunting seals?

Breaching is a spectacular hunting technique where sharks, especially great whites, launch themselves out of the water to ambush prey from below.

Which small hammerhead relative has been found with seagrass making up over 60% of its gut contents?

The bonnethead, a small hammerhead of Gulf of Mexico seagrass beds, digests seagrass and absorbs its nutrients, making it the first shark shown to be omnivorous.

Sharks, rays and chimaeras belong to which class of cartilaginous fish?

Chondrichthyes means 'cartilage fish' in Greek, setting them apart from the bony fish, Osteichthyes.

Which whale shark feature do researchers photograph to identify individual animals, like a fingerprint?

Each whale shark's spot pattern on the skin behind the gills is unique, and researchers match photographs of it using software adapted from an astronomy star-mapping algorithm.

What is the primary function of the spiracle, a modified gill slit behind the eye of some sharks?

Spiracles allow bottom-dwelling sharks to draw oxygenated water over their gills without having to open their mouths, which might be buried in the sediment.

What term describes sharks whose eggs hatch inside the mother before live birth?

Ovoviviparous sharks retain their eggs internally, and the embryos develop, nourished by a yolk sac, before hatching inside the mother and being born live.

What is the common name for the smallest known shark species?

The dwarf lanternshark, typically measuring only about 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) in length, is considered the smallest known shark species.

Which shark is among the ocean's fastest, capable of over 30 mph?

The shortfin mako shark is renowned for its incredible speed and agility, making it one of the fastest sharks and a formidable predator in open waters.

What material makes up the outer, hardest layer of a shark's tooth?

Unlike mammals with enamel, shark teeth are covered with enameloid, an extremely hard, crystalline substance that helps them withstand the forces of biting.

What trance-like state do some sharks enter when they are turned upside down?

Tonic immobility is a temporary paralysis that some sharks, including lemon and tiger sharks, enter when inverted; researchers use it to handle animals and orcas exploit it when attacking great whites.

What has driven a 71% fall in shark populations since 1970?

Overfishing is the driver: a 2021 study found oceanic shark and ray numbers fell 71% since 1970 as fishing pressure rose 18-fold, with fins and meat driving the catch.

Which sportswear product was designed to mimic the drag-cutting texture of shark skin?

Speedo's Fastskin swimsuit, launched for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, used a ribbed fabric modelled on shark dermal denticles to cut drag, and Speedo claimed its wearers took most of the swimming medals.

Which low-density oil fills the organ sharks rely on to stay buoyant?

Squalene, a hydrocarbon oil lighter than seawater, fills the shark's large liver; with no swim bladder, that oil and the light cartilage skeleton do most of the work of keeping a shark from sinking.

Which shark species has a whip-like tail, as long as its body, used to stun prey?

Thresher sharks are easily identifiable by their exceptionally long caudal fin (tail), which they use to herd and stun schools of fish before feeding.

Which deep-sea shark has an elongated, flattened snout and protrusible jaws?

The goblin shark is a rare, deep-sea species recognized by its unusual elongated, blade-like snout and jaws that can rapidly extend forward to catch prey.

In which kind of shark are the spiracles typically reduced or missing altogether?

Active open-ocean species such as makos and requiem sharks have reduced or absent spiracles: they ram water through the mouth while swimming, so the extra breathing hole behind the eye is unnecessary.

What kind of reproduction has young developing inside the mother, fed via a placenta?

Viviparous reproduction in sharks involves internal development of the embryo with direct nourishment from the mother through a placental connection, resulting in live birth.

Which deep-water filter-feeding shark was unknown to science until 1976?

The megamouth shark was discovered in 1976 when one was hauled up on a US Navy ship's sea anchor off Hawaii; it is the smallest and rarest of the three filter-feeding sharks.

Which shark, averaging about 3 m long, is known to migrate from New England all the way to South America?

Blue sharks are highly migratory, known for traveling vast distances across open ocean basins, often covering thousands of miles in their annual movements.

What adaptation lets the cookiecutter shark cut neat, circular plugs of flesh from its prey?

Its lower teeth interlock into a single saw-like edge, and it has bitten circular plugs out of whales, dolphins, and even submarine sonar domes.

A dead shark gradually starts to smell strongly of what, as bacteria break down its urea?

Ammonia builds as bacteria break down the urea sharks keep in their tissue for osmotic balance, which is why Icelanders ferment shark meat before eating it.

Male sharks fertilize internally using which paired organs?

Claspers are modified pelvic fins, analogous to a mammalian penis; the male inserts only one of the pair at a time to transfer sperm.

Which shark species is known for its ability to enter freshwater systems, such as rivers?

Bull Shark tolerance for fresh water lets it travel far up rivers and into lakes, a trait shared with the river sharks of the genus Glyphis.

What is the primary sense sharks use to detect prey, such as blood, from long distances?

Smell, so acute that some species detect one part per million of blood in seawater.

Sharks are common down to roughly what depth in the ocean?

Sharks are common down to about 2,000 m; below roughly 3,000 m they are almost entirely absent, leaving the cold, food-poor abyss to other fish.

Which sluggish, spotted, bottom-dwelling carpet shark has a tail fin nearly half its total length?

The zebra shark is a slow, bottom-dwelling carpet shark with a tail fin nearly half its length; juveniles are striped, and the stripes break into spots as the shark matures.

What is it called when a female shark reproduces without a male, producing clones of herself?

Parthenogenesis is a rare form of asexual reproduction observed in some female sharks, where an egg develops into an embryo without fertilization by a male.

Which fish hitches rides on sharks using a suction disc on top of its head?

The remora's first dorsal fin is modified into a ridged suction disc that clamps onto sharks, rays and turtles, letting it travel for free and feed on scraps and parasites.

Which large, slow-moving shark keeps its massive mouth open to filter feed while swimming?

Basking Shark is the second-largest fish, a ram feeder straining zooplankton through its gill rakers by swimming forward with its mouth open.

Sharks have a heterocercal tail fin, meaning which part is usually noticeably larger?

In a heterocercal tail the upper lobe is larger, with the vertebral column extending into it; most bony fish have symmetrical, homocercal tails instead.

Which of these describes the typical hunting strategy of a great white shark going after seals?

Ambushing prey from below with a powerful bite. Off California, white sharks seize seals near the surface and drag them under.

The deepest confirmed shark sighting, a Portuguese dogfish, was at about what depth?

The Portuguese dogfish has been recorded at about 3,700 m (3,675 m), more than 12,000 feet down, the deepest confirmed for any shark and in a zone where sharks are otherwise almost absent.

The eyes of most sharks are typically adapted for vision in what conditions?

Sharks often hunt in low light, such as dawn, dusk, or deeper waters, and their eyes are adapted with features like a tapetum lucidum to enhance vision in dim conditions.

Which eel-like deep-sea shark may carry its pups for as long as 3.5 years before birth?

The frilled shark's embryos grow only about 1.4 cm a month inside the mother, feeding on yolk, giving a gestation of up to 3.5 years before pups are born at up to 60 cm long.

Which of these shark species is known for its ability to 'walk' on its fins along the seabed?

The epaulette shark pushes itself across the reef with its paddle-shaped pectoral and pelvic fins, and often walks even when the water is deep enough to swim.

Unlike bony fish, how are a shark's gill slits arranged?

Uncovered, in a row behind the head, where bony fish have an operculum; sharks also have a modified extra slit behind each eye.

Before the 16th century, what did mariners call sharks?

Until the 16th century mariners called sharks 'sea dogs', a name that survives in species names such as the spiny dogfish.

Which Dutch word, meaning 'villain', is one proposed origin of the word 'shark'?

Dutch schurk, meaning villain or scoundrel, is one proposed origin of 'shark'; the word's history is uncertain, and the villain sense survives in 'card shark' and 'loan shark'.

Roughly how long were the largest megalodon teeth?

The largest megalodon teeth measure about 18 cm (7 inches) along the diagonal, roughly three times a big great white tooth, and the species is known almost entirely from its teeth.

Which heat-exchange structure lets makos and great whites keep muscles warmer than the sea?

Makos and great whites have a rete mirabile, a mesh of countercurrent blood vessels that traps metabolic heat, keeping swimming muscles, eyes and brain several degrees warmer than the surrounding water.

Which is the oldest known member of the modern sharks, from the Early Jurassic?

Agaleus, from the Early Jurassic of Dorset about 190 million years ago, is the oldest known modern shark (neoselachian); shark-like fish existed far earlier, in the Devonian and possibly the Ordovician.

Sharks' teeth are embedded in what, rather than fixed to the jaw?

Shark teeth sit in the gums rather than in sockets in the jaw, so rows of replacement teeth move forward like a conveyor belt throughout life.

Which animal sometimes preys on the great white, normally an apex predator?

Orca pods have been recorded killing great whites and eating the fatty liver, which can exceed a quarter of the shark's body weight.

Where is the largest preserved great white specimen, a 5.83-metre female caught in 1956, displayed?

The 5.83-metre female, caught in 1956 and weighing an estimated 2,000 kg, is preserved at the Cantonal Museum of Zoology in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Which country has protected the great white since 1991, banning killing and selling?

South Africa became the first country to protect the great white in 1991, banning its killing and the sale of its parts; Australia and the United States followed later in the decade.

The 'White Shark Cafe', where great whites gather mid-ocean, lies between Baja California and where?

Satellite tags revealed in 2002 that great whites from California and Mexico spend months each year in a remote patch of Pacific between Baja California and Hawaii, nicknamed the White Shark Cafe.

What is the largest reliably recorded length of a whale shark?

The largest confirmed whale shark measured 18.8 metres, making it by far the largest living fish and the largest animal that is not a whale.

The whale shark was first distinguished after a specimen was harpooned in 1828 in which bay?

The first known specimen was harpooned in Table Bay, South Africa, in 1828, and military doctor Andrew Smith described the species the following year.

A whale shark's mouth can contain over how many rows of tiny teeth?

A whale shark's mouth holds 300 to 350 rows of tiny teeth that play no part in feeding; it strains food through 20 filter pads instead.

Where was the first attempt to keep a whale shark in captivity, in 1934?

The first captive whale shark was kept in 1934 in a netted-off natural bay at Izu, Japan, where it survived about four months.

Which Western Australian site hosts a famous seasonal whale shark aggregation?

Ningaloo Reef hosts a famous whale shark aggregation each March to July, and a 2020 study there found females grow more slowly but end up larger than males.

Which shark is second only to the great white in recorded fatal attacks on humans?

The tiger shark, a notorious 'garbage eater' found with licence plates and tyres in its stomach, is second only to the great white in recorded fatal attacks on humans.

Who first described the tiger shark in 1822, naming it Squalus cuvier?

French naturalists Francois Peron and Charles Alexandre Lesueur described it in 1822 as Squalus cuvier; it is now the only living member of the genus Galeocerdo.

Which protective eyelid do tiger and blue sharks have that great whites lack?

Tiger, blue and other requiem sharks draw a nictitating membrane across the eye when biting; great whites have none and instead roll their eyes back, exposing the tough white sclera.

Which hammerhead is placed in its own genus, Eusphyra, apart from Sphyrna?

The winghead shark, Eusphyra blochii, has the widest head of any hammerhead, up to half its body length, and is the only hammerhead placed outside the genus Sphyrna.

Who gave megalodon its scientific name in an 1833-1843 work on fossil fishes?

Louis Agassiz named it Carcharodon megalodon, 'big tooth', in his Recherches sur les poissons fossiles (1833-1843); it is now placed in the extinct family Otodontidae.

Roughly when did megalodon go extinct?

Megalodon died out about 3.6 million years ago, in the Pliocene, as cooling seas shrank its warm-water range; its extinction coincided with a trend toward gigantism in baleen whales.

Megalodon's jaws could exert a bite force of up to roughly how many newtons?

A 2008 study estimated megalodon's bite at 108,500 to 182,200 newtons, among the strongest of any animal; its thick teeth were built for grabbing prey and breaking bone.

After whom did the Jaws crew nickname the mechanical sharks 'Bruce'?

The prop sharks were nicknamed after Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer; three pneumatic sharks were built and they broke down constantly in salt water.

Jaws was shot mostly on location on which Massachusetts island?

Jaws was shot on Martha's Vineyard, standing in for Amity Island; it was the first major film shot on the ocean and ran badly over budget and schedule.

What was the original budget and shooting schedule for Jaws?

Jaws was budgeted at $3.5 million with a 55-day shoot; it ended up taking 159 days and about $9 million, partly because the mechanical sharks kept breaking down.

Jaws overtook which film as the highest-grossing at the North American box office in just 78 days?

Jaws passed The Godfather as the top North American grosser 78 days into release, became the first film to earn $100 million in US theatrical rentals, and held the record until Star Wars in 1977.

Which subplot from the novel did Spielberg cut to protect the camaraderie of the three men?

Benchley wrote three drafts before other writers took over.

Where did AFI rank 'You're gonna need a bigger boat' on its list of top 100 movie quotes?

AFI ranked 'You're gonna need a bigger boat' 35th on its list of 100 movie quotes; it placed the shark 18th among villains and the film second only to Psycho among thrillers.

Roughly how many unprovoked shark attacks are reported worldwide each year?

Only the great white, tiger and bull are responsible for double-digit fatal totals.

On what date did Discovery's Shark Week first premiere?

Discovery's Shark Week premiered on July 17, 1988, as a week of shark documentaries and became an annual summer event for the channel.

Finning increased since 1997 largely because of demand for what?

Fin soup and traditional cures drive the trade; many countries now require whole sharks to be landed before fins are removed.

Which Norwegian bishop and naturalist first described the basking shark, in 1765?

Johan Ernst Gunnerus, bishop of Trondheim, described the basking shark in 1765 from a Norwegian specimen, naming it Squalus maximus; the genus name Cetorhinus came later.

Greenland sharks reach sexual maturity at roughly what age?

Females reach maturity at about 150 years old, when roughly 4 m long, based on the 2016 radiocarbon dating study that put lifespans at 272 to 512 years.

Which compound makes Greenland shark meat toxic to mammals?

Greenland shark flesh is rich in trimethylamine N-oxide, which breaks down into trimethylamine and causes drunkenness-like effects; Icelanders ferment and dry it into the pungent delicacy kaestur hakarl.

Which copepod parasite attaches itself to the Greenland shark's eyes?

Ommatokoita elongata anchors itself to the shark's cornea, often leaving it nearly blind; it has been speculated to be bioluminescent and to lure prey, though this is unproven.

Bull sharks have swum up the Mississippi River as far as which Illinois town?

Bull sharks were caught at Alton, Illinois, in 1937, about 1,100 km (700 miles) up the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico.

In southern Africa the bull shark is named after which river?

In southern Africa the bull shark is called the Zambezi shark, or 'zambi', after the river it swims far up; in Central America it is known as the Lake Nicaragua shark.

The nurse shark's genus name Ginglymostoma means what in Greek?

Ginglymostoma combines Greek ginglymos, 'hinge', and stoma, 'mouth', hence 'hinged mouth'; the species name cirratum is Latin for having curled ringlets, after its barbels.

Which shark is the main study species of the Bimini 'Shark Lab' in the Bahamas?

The lemon shark, named for its yellowish skin, has been studied for decades at the Bimini Biological Field Station in the Bahamas, where social juveniles are tagged in mangrove nurseries.

How many species of wobbegong carpet shark are there?

One, the Japanese wobbegong, ranges as far north as Japan.

Angel sharks' flattened bodies and broad pectoral fins make them resemble what?

Angel sharks, genus Squatina, look like rays with their flattened bodies and wing-like pectoral fins, but their gill slits open on the sides rather than underneath, and they are true sharks.

Unlike sawfish, sawsharks carry a pair of what halfway along the snout?

Sawsharks have a pair of long barbels halfway along the toothed snout and gill slits on the sides; sawfish, which are rays, lack barbels and have gills underneath.

In bursts, the shortfin mako can reach roughly what speed?

The shortfin mako has been clocked in bursts of about 74 km/h (46 mph), the fastest of any shark; 'mako' is a Maori word, and large females can top 4 metres and 570 kg.

The great white, makos and porbeagle belong to which shark family?

Lamnidae, the mackerel sharks, holds five living species: the great white, the shortfin and longfin makos, the porbeagle and the salmon shark, all partly warm-blooded fast swimmers.

Which shark did Jacques Cousteau call 'the most dangerous of all sharks'?

Jacques Cousteau called the oceanic whitetip 'the most dangerous of all sharks' for its bold, persistent behaviour around open-ocean shipwreck and air-crash survivors.

Which steamship carrying about 1,000 people was sunk by a U-boat in November 1942, drawing oceanic whitetips?

The RMS Nova Scotia, carrying about 1,000 people including Italian internees, was torpedoed by U-177 off South Africa on 28 November 1942; fewer than 200 survived, and oceanic whitetips were blamed for many deaths.

The Port Jackson shark is the largest member of which bullhead shark genus?

The Port Jackson shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni, grows to 1.65 m, the largest of the bullhead sharks; it lays spiral egg cases, hunts at night and migrates south in summer.

How many people were killed in the Jersey Shore shark attacks of July 1916?

Four people were killed and a fifth, 14-year-old Joseph Dunn, survived the July 1916 attacks; the events inspired Discovery's 2009 docudrama 'Blood in the Water'.

Where did the first major 1916 Jersey Shore attack occur, killing Charles Vansant?

The 23-year-old from Philadelphia was staying at the Engleside Hotel.

Which Japanese submarine torpedoed USS Indianapolis on 30 July 1945?

Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto's I-58 hit the Indianapolis with two torpedoes; she sank in 12 minutes, four days after delivering components of the Little Boy bomb to Tinian.

How did the Navy learn of the Indianapolis sinking, four days later?

A Navy patrol plane on a routine flight spotted the survivors by chance on 2 August 1945; of 1,195 crew, about 300 went down with the ship and only 316 were pulled from the water.

Which 1956 film did Jacques Cousteau make using an early shark cage?

Cousteau filmed sharks from an early cage for The Silent World (1956), which won the Palme d'Or and an Oscar; Rodney Fox later helped develop an observation cage in the late 1960s.

Which body developed shark net meshing in 1937 after years of attacks off Sydney?

New South Wales Fisheries introduced mesh nets off Sydney beaches in 1937, the world's first shark-meshing programme, and it caught hundreds of sharks in its first season.

Which US body formed the 1958 panel that originated the International Shark Attack File?

The Office of Naval Research convened a Shark Research Panel in 1958 that began the International Shark Attack File; the file later moved to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Rodney Fox was attacked by a great white in 1963 while competing in what?

Fox was defending his title at the 1963 South Australian spearfishing championship at Aldinga Beach when a great white bit him; he survived with hundreds of stitches and became a leading shark authority.

Peter Benchley co-wrote the Jaws screenplay with whom?

Carl Gottlieb rewrote Benchley's drafts and shares the screenplay credit; Benchley later regretted stoking fear of sharks and became a marine conservation advocate.

Peter Benchley worked as a White House speechwriter for which president?

Benchley wrote speeches for Lyndon B. Johnson from 1967 to 1969; his grandfather Robert Benchley was a founder of the Algonquin Round Table.

In Shark Tale, Will Smith's Oscar falsely claims to have killed the son of which shark mob boss?

Oscar takes credit for the death of Frankie, son of mob boss Don Lino, voiced by Robert De Niro; Martin Scorsese and Angelina Jolie also star.

The cult TV movie Sharknado first aired on which channel on July 11, 2013?

Syfy's film starred Tara Reid and Ian Ziering, whose Fin jumps into a shark's mouth with a chainsaw and cuts his way out.

Which South Korean company's version of 'Baby Shark' went viral after its June 2016 release?

Pinkfong's version became the first YouTube video to hit 10 billion views, in January 2022.

In what month did 'Baby Shark' become the most-viewed YouTube video ever?

Baby Shark Dance passed Despacito to become YouTube's most-viewed video on 2 November 2020, with 7.04 billion views at the time.

Which chemical repellent type has shown some efficacy in clearing sharks from a feeding area?

Semiochemicals extracted from decomposing shark tissue send sharks fleeing a feeding area; SharkDefense partnered with SharkTec in 2014 to sell them in a spray canister.

Fossils of the Devonian shark Cladoselache are abundant in which Late Devonian black shale?

The Cleveland Shale near Cleveland, Ohio, has yielded superb Cladoselache fossils with skin and muscle preserved; the name Cladoselache means 'branch shark'.

Helicoprion is famous for what distinctive dental structure?

Helicoprion's lower jaw carried a tooth whorl, a spiral of teeth like a circular saw, which inspired the name 'spiral saw' coined by Alexander Karpinsky in 1899.

Squalene can make up what share of some shark liver oils?

In deep-sea dogfish such as Centrophorus, squalene can make up to 90% of the liver oil and about 15% of total body weight, which is why they were hunted for it.

Which shark's most developed embryo eats its siblings in the womb, called adelphophagy?

The sand tiger shark, called the grey nurse in Australia and ragged-tooth in South Africa, has embryos that eat their siblings in the uterus, so only one pup is born from each of its two uteri.

Which harmless houndshark is common in bays along the US Pacific coast?

The leopard shark, Triakis semifasciata, is a harmless houndshark of Pacific bays from Oregon to Mexico, named for its black saddles and spots; it is caught for food and the aquarium trade.

The blue shark is the only living species of which genus?

The blue shark, Prionace glauca, is the sole living member of its genus; a slender open-ocean requiem shark, it prefers cooler water and commonly reaches 2 to 3 metres.

The bonnethead is the only shark known to show sexual dimorphism in what?

Adult male bonnetheads have a bulge along the front edge of the head that females lack, the only known sexual dimorphism in head shape among sharks; they swim in groups of five to 15.

The silky shark is named for what?

It is one of the most abundant sharks in the open ocean's pelagic zone.

Dusky sharks reach adulthood at roughly what age?

Dusky sharks mature at around 20 years old, among the slowest-growing of all sharks, and have been tracked migrating up to 3,800 km.

Where do whitetip reef sharks spend much of the day?

Whitetip reef sharks spend the day resting inside caves and under ledges, sometimes stacked atop one another, and hunt at night or during slack tide.

Which shark is the largest predatory fish in the sea?

The great white shark, reaching about 6 metres and over 2,000 kg, is the largest predatory fish; the bigger whale and basking sharks are filter feeders.

The 2018 film The Meg, starring Jason Statham, is loosely based on a 1997 novel by which author?

Steve Alten's 1997 novel Meg was optioned by Disney's Hollywood Pictures that year, but the film sat in development hell for two decades before Warner Bros. released The Meg in 2018.

In Deep Blue Sea (1999), scientists enlarge the brains of mako sharks while seeking a cure for what?

The scientists harvest protein from enlarged mako brains hoping to cure Alzheimer's disease; Renny Harlin shot much of the film at Fox Baja Studios in Mexico, in the tanks built for Titanic.

The 2003 film Open Water was inspired by the real disappearance of which scuba-diving couple?

Made for $500,000 by diver-filmmakers Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, it was bought by Lions Gate for $2.5 million after its festival screening.

In Finding Nemo, the great white shark Bruce leads a support group of sharks trying to do what?

Stop eating fish is the pledge, 'Fish are friends, not food'; Bruce's 'Here's Brucey!' parodies The Shining's 'Here's Johnny!'.