Shark Crazy

Author: Tom "The Blowfish" Hird

When it comes to sharks and rays, I think it’s fair to say that EVERYONE reading this is Shark Crazy! We LOVE sharks, we dream about sharks, talk about sharks, dive with sharks and some of us even play heavy metal to sharks! But, when I talk about being Shark Crazy, right now I’m talking about those weird and wonderful species which very rarely get the spotlight due to their appearance, habitat or rarity.

Regardless of how they look, or what they do, they still need our love and protection. So here are just 3 species of the wacky end of the ocean, that are definitely Shark Crazy!

Goblin Shark

This deep-sea shark is super secretive and found at depths that only submarines and robots can safely access. Goblin sharks were first discovered being dragged up in deep water fishing nets, and the journey to the surface caused their bodies to warp and distort, meaning that early fishermen had a twisted view on what this shark really looked like. Rather than having an overbite you could open beer bottles with, a goblin shark in its natural habitat has its jaw safely set in its mouth, just waiting for a passing prey item to wander too close. That’s where its incredible senses and massive nose come into play! The deep ocean is an area where life is very thinly dispersed. To save on energy, the goblin shark waits in the dark for a fish or squid to swim past. With its enlarged nose picking up the tiniest movements thanks to those incredible electro receptive cells, and the tiny pressure sensitive organs, once a prey item is detected I rarely escape. That toothy jaw comes into play! Firing forward at rapid speeds of 10ft/s, and even extending up to 10% of the sharks’ total body length. In the dark the unsuspecting victim doesn’t even know its been detected, as the goblin shark starts gobblin’ them up!

DOWNLOAD Tasselled Wobbegong Fact Poster

Tasselled Wobbegong

A famous native of the waters around Australia, you would be forgiven for thinking that this shark was well into his Bob Marley collection due to those incredible dreadlocks found all around their mouth and head. This beard plays multiple roles in the daily life of the wobbegong… aside from just making them look super cool! Firstly, as top tier ambush predators, being able to vanish in the environment is a critical skill. So, all these fabulous extensions help break up the outline of the shark. Meaning that they blend into the environment flawlessly, effectively making them invisible to fish! Also, two particularly well developed parts of this mighty beard, long fleshy lobes called barbels, are packed with additional sensory organs, allowing the shark to pinpoint prey by smell, taste and touch even in the darkest, murkiest waters. Don’t think though that all that lying around makes the wobbegong a slouch!. Wobbegongs use their tails as a lure, holding it up above their bodies like a scorpion would, and gently waving it back and forth. This action mimics that of a small reef fish, and so attracts other fish towards it who are looking for safety in numbers. But there is nothing safe to be found here, and with a bite so fast you need a special slowmo camera to see it, a wobbegong can snap up a fish so quickly, that blink and you’ll miss it.

Torpedo Ray

We have to mention rays at some point, being flat sharks and all that! And I suppose that makes them weird enough to begin with? Mantas, Cow Nose, Spotted Ribbontails, they are all super unique in their own way. But one particular group of rays has taken on actual superpowers!. The Electric Rays, also known as the Torpedo rays, contain about 70 species and are found across most of the temperate and tropical oceans. From the outside, these rays all appear to be of the standard design. But the thing that really sets them apart is hidden in the wings of their noticeably chunky bodies, and if you haven’t guessed what it is by now, well I’m shocked… Because they have the ability to produce bolts of electricity. Basically, they take advantage of the way biology works in terms of creating electrical impulses like we see with nerve fibres, but these rays turn it all the way up to 11! They have stacks and stacks of specialised cells present in their wings, all of which are hooked up to the nervous system and wired accordingly so that when the brain singles the cells to discharge, they ALL go in one massive lighting wave. Incredibly, this biological battery is so powerful that some larger species can zap out shocks at 220v! That’s enough power to boil an electric kettle. The rays use this incredible Super power for attack as well as defense, stunning small prey items making them easy to catch, or jolting larger predators into turning away from what seemed to be an easy meal. Evolution has even made sure that the rays don’t short circuit themselves, thanks to layers of insulation and the arrangement of cells resulting in a discharge down, around and away from the animal, meaning it doesn’t cook its own brain! A truly amazing ability from a really radical ray!