Sand tiger shark

Sand tiger shark
Odontaspis taurus
Max. size: 3.5 m

With its impressive teeth, this shark is a formidable carnivore.
From a very early age, the babies practise intra-uterine cannibalism: they eat each other inside their mother’s stomach.  

The two sand tiger sharks are amongst ten species of sharks on display in the aquarium and measure 2.5m.  They are fed at the same time as the other sharks and the turtles with around 80kg of conger, herring, squid, pout whiting and mackerel per week.  To do this, the biologists feed them either from above the aquarium or by diving - in a cage of course because these are potentially dangerous animals.

Sharks belong to the family of Chondrichthys, which includes sharks, rays and chimera, all of which are characterised by their cartilaginous skeleton.  Sharks have gill slits, several rows of teeth and very powerful sense organs, which makes them perfect predators.

Sharks are not man-eaters.  If they attack humans it is because they mistake them for a turtle or a seal.  Every year there are around ten or so people who die following a shark attack, which is not a great number compared those who die from bee stings – around 1250 per year.  Sharks are an endangered species, approximately 100 million sharks are killed by man every year.  The shark population has been reduced by half.

Of the 470 species of shark, some have seen their population fall by 90%.  This is a result of industrialised fishing and also the high demand for shark for its fins, oil and cartilage…it is about time we managed the sea’s resources more carefully!

 

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