Science in Seconds - Shark Attacks

Science in Seconds Know Everything RAVES - Shark Attacks Torah Kachur: [Jaws theme] That's all you need to know that the great white shark is the greatest predator alive today. Great white sharks are killing machines. They have evolved into almost perfect, and lethal, hunters. Their killing efficiency makes them awesome, feared and really bloody cool. Sharks are fish with skeletons made out of cartilage, a softer and more flexible tissue than bone. But the shark jaws are incredibly powerful. They can exert up to 18,000 newtons. That's about 4,000 pounds of force on their prey. Their jaws aren't actually anchored into their body, which means they can dislocate their jaws during an attack. This increased flexibility also accounts for the immense force they can exert. Plus, without bony skeletons, their teeth aren't anchored, so they lose teeth with every attack. But like the incredible predator that they are, they have conveyor belts of teeth waiting to mature and take their place to rip your legs off. The teeth themselves are serrated, and sharks can shake their heads from side to side to rip chunks of flesh off seals, dolphins or little Susie. And both of their jaws, upper and lower, can move, so they can actually protrude their upper jaw outwards, past their nose, in an attack. Of course, those physical traits make them more than slightly scary. But they have also evolved effective attack behaviors. A shark attack follows a pretty consistent pattern: attack from below while going at about 40 kilometers an hour, enough to launch them out of the air with surprising grace; strike prey with a powerful blow. This is enough to kill smaller prey, but they top it off with that massive bite. Then they wait while their prey bleeds to near death before they go and put him out of his misery. Yum. Sharks are amazing. I mean, they show the beauty of evolution. Except they do have one flaw. They're scared of Free Willy. Actually, orca attacks have been known to drive great white sharks away from their habitat for years. Seriously, Shamu? And you call yourself a killer. Courtesy of Science in Seconds – All rights reserved Only for educational/non-profit purposes. (Translators are invited to put their name here)