Hello, Adventurers! Welcome back to the Coastal Expeditions’ blog! Have you ever avoided the ocean because of a fear of sharks? Or, have you ever found yourself enjoying a swim in the sea when suddenly the thought of a shark makes you want to head for shore? Because of movies like Jaws and Sharknado, we’ve been taught to fear sharks. If popular media is to be taken as the expert, then sharks are aggressive and only out for human blood. Today, in honor of Shark Awareness Day on July 14th, we want to teach you about a few species native to South Carolina and disprove the common myths associated with these interesting animals!

The aim of Shark Awareness Day is to educate people about sharks and promote empathy between humans and marine creatures. Sharks are top predators and have occupied their spot in the Earth’s oceans for over four-hundred million years. In the past few decades, sharks have been the victims of overfishing and have been hunted for their fins. Similar to turtles and whales, sharks deserve our protection from unethical fishing practices and overhunting.

Species Native to South Carolina

There are several species of shark which enjoy spending a portion of their year along the South Carolina coast. The first of these species is the Black Tip shark. These large sharks are high in volume and tend to frequent our waters between the months of April and September. They can be up to one-hundred and fifty pounds and grow up to five feet in length. And, sometimes, even eight feet! They have small mouths and tend to prefer cruising the surf in search of schools of small fish. With their thin eyes and black fins, they resemble cats.

Next up on the list, we have Bull sharks! Bull sharks can be quite aggressive. They also have powerful jaws and plenty of teeth. Therefore, most shark bites are blamed on bull sharks. They frequent both saltwater and freshwater. They can grow to be up to eight feet and five-hundred pounds! Though they often take the blame for unfortunate incidents between sharks and humans, this may not always be warranted. As the saying goes, “if the shoe fits,” and sometimes bites do not match the size of a bull shark’s mouth.

Tiger sharks are considered the truest natives of South Carolina because they spend most of their time on our shores. They come in March and don’t leave until November. Tiger sharks are unlikely to attack here. That’s good, since they can grow to be between ten and fourteen feet and eight-hundred and fourteen-hundred pounds!  Tiger sharks also love rivers and can be found miles inland.

There are several types of Hammerhead sharks in South Carolina waters, including: scalloped, bonnethead, and great hammerhead.  There’s even one called the Carolina Hammerhead! These sharks garner their names from their flat, hammer-shaped heads. They are highly sensitive, which helps in their fish hunting efforts. They are similar to dolphins in their relationship to humans (only a tad more timid). They can grow up to twenty feet and one-thousand pounds.

Finally, there’s the most recognizable shark among all sharks—the Great White. This mammoth of an animal can be as girthy as a mid-sized Sedan, or bigger. They are incredibly intelligent, among fish. Great white sharks tend to come down to South Carolina’s shore in the winter months, from December to March, which makes its interactions with humans few and far between.

Fact vs. Fiction

Now, we’ll set about disapproving some common myths about sharks.

Fiction: All sharks are the same. 

Fact: Different sharks display different preferences for food and hunting methods. For example, the great white shark’s diet consists of seals and sealions, a whale shark will scour the ocean for enough krill to maintain its massive proportions. There are sharks which frequent the upper reaches of the ocean, while others call the ocean floor their home. There are sharks who ambush their prey and others who secrete luminous biofluid in order to attract their prey. In actuality, no two sharks are the same!

Fiction: Sharks hunt humans.

Fact: Humans are not on a shark’s menu. Even if a shark obtained a whiff of a human’s blood, they wouldn’t be particularly interested, since they’re not trained to recognize our blood as food. Most sharks eat fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods (like squids and octopus). Shark attacks are usually the result of low water visibility and curiosity (as sharks like to investigate things they don’t understand with their teeth). Humans can be similar in size to the prey some sharks hunt, but sharks do not consider humans prey and therefore do not waste time hunting them.

Fiction: Sharks add nothing to the ocean.

Fact: Sharks are a vital aspect of any ecosystem. As apex predators, they have the huge responsibility of maintaining the populations beneath them in the food chain. If sharks were to suddenly disappear, there would be major ramifications for the ocean and us. For example, say sharks were removed from a coral reef. Okay, fine. Now, the groupers—who the sharks used to feed on—become the dominant species. They then eat all of the herbivores in the ecosystem, which leads to an overgrowth of algae. This algae blocks sunlight from reaching the reef and consumes the oxygen. Now, the reef is at risk. In this way, sharks have a vital role to play wherever they go.

Fiction: Shark fins taste good and grow back.

Fact: No. Quite simply, shark fins do not taste good. That said, they have become a status symbol in some cultures and are used to make soup. For this reason, sharks are hunted and have their fins cut off while they are still alive. They are then thrown back into the ocean, to slowly drown or be eaten. This inhumane practice (and the accompanying falsehood that shark fins grow back) have led to countless shark deaths.

Fiction: Sharks must swim continuously to survive.

Fact: “Always forward. Never back.” This is a prevalent myth, but one that’s also easy to disprove. Some sharks do need to swim continuously in order to breathe, while others are able to pump water over their gills. These second types of sharks can rest for short periods of time or even come to a complete stop on the ocean floor (like nurse sharks).

Fiction: Sharks are stupid.

Fact: Most sharks have brains the size of a walnut, but their brain mass occupies the same proportion in relation to their overall mass as most mammals (including birds and dogs). Sharks can be taught tricks, like any pet. Scientists have also found select species of sharks to be social and to teach each other learned patterns of behavior.

Fiction: Sharks have no predators.

Fact: Orcas can sometimes target mako sharks or great whites. They flip them onto their backs, which stuns the shark, then go in for the kill. However, the greatest threat to sharks is humans. Compared to the average of five human deaths a year in shark-related incidents, humans kill over one-hundred million sharks annually. 

Fiction: All sharks are big.

Fact: Sharks come in all shapes and sizes, just like humans! There are sharks small enough to fit in your pocket (i.e. the Pocket shark, which measures in at about five-and-a-half inches) and sharks large enough to take up half of a basketball court (i.e. the Whale shark, which measures in at about forty feet).

Fiction: Shark attacks are common.

Fact: Let us put it like this… The chances of being killed by a shark are one in three-point-seven million. While the chances of being killed by fireworks are one in three-hundred and forty thousand.

Fiction: Sharks can cure cancer.

Fact: This myth comes from research done in the 1970s which showed cartilage could slow the growth of new blood vessels, which metastatic cancer relies on. Cursory experiments with rabbits and sharks led to the invention of shark cartilage pills (a hoax), which led to countless sharks being killed.

We hope you learned something new about sharks today! We also hope you have a newfound appreciation for these misunderstood animals. Don’t forget to celebrate Shark Awareness Day this year and remember to enjoy the ocean without fear!

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