1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,240 Hello and welcome back shark Heroes to another episode of 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,960 deep dives with sharks. My name is Alex I am the host 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:09,480 here. I'm still the weird guy that 4 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,000 talks to you about sharks for however long this episode is 5 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,040 going to be. Now I asked at the beginning and 6 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,520 I believe the end of the last episode ran a couple polls and 7 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,960 the shark heroes have spoken. Y'all want more sharks? 8 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:22,640 So welcome to the first multi shark episode. 9 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,720 Now I plan on seeing how this one goes and if people tend to 10 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:27,800 like it, we can keep doing this. We can keep having a couple 11 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,080 sharks per episode, but if people want to go back to the 12 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:32,400 old ways, we can do that. And I also still have a couple 13 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,200 things that I'm working on the background, which I know I say 14 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,360 that a lot, but new things are coming. 15 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,400 I'm trying to keep this rolling, keep it developing and see what 16 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,200 sticks and what we're going to leave in the past. 17 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:45,400 But of course, you can follow along with all the updates on 18 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,320 Instagram at Deep Dives with Sharks and also hear me ramble 19 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,240 about pretty much nothing over on Twitch at Deep Dives with 20 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,240 Sharks as well. There you get to ask all your 21 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,160 sharky questions as well and anything like that. 22 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,320 But of course, I did finally get a question asked. 23 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:01,920 That brings us to our question corner. 24 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,800 So the young William wanted to know if a whale shark would be 25 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,800 able to leap out of their enclosure to Freedom or in 26 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,240 another tank like Destiny did in Finding Dory. 27 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,360 So First off, it's a great question and 2nd, unfortunately 28 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,120 they can't. They weigh about 35,000 to 29 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,600 75,000 lbs when they're fully grown and the power that would 30 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,040 take to get them fully out of the water would be insane. 31 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:26,680 Now these are very powerful sharks. 32 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,320 They do generate a lot of power from their tail, which is what 33 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:32,400 propelled propels them through the water, but they don't really 34 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:34,880 get enough speed out of that. They tend to move about 5 miles 35 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,320 an hour or less right in that range, so you need to be a lot 36 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,000 faster to get out of the water there. 37 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,400 If you've ever seen a video of a whale breaching from underwater 38 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,720 or a a shark, you'll notice that they're going pretty fast when 39 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,680 they hit the surface. So that gets their full body, or 40 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,160 at least most of it, out of the water. 41 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,520 Whale sharks don't really move that fast, so they'll kind of 42 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,840 just get to the top and then their nose will pop out. 43 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,240 And that that's about the best they got there, unfortunately. 44 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,760 But he also did want to know how they feed the whale sharks at 45 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,000 the Georgia Aquarium, especially since each whale shark has a 46 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,360 special diet. And it's kind of hard to control 47 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,360 if you're just throwing a whole bunch of krill in a tank and 48 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,160 hoping for the best. So they target train the whale 49 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,520 sharks. Now, the sharks will see the 50 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:17,960 target in the water and they'll come to that spot. 51 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,400 So from there, the staff will usually be on floating dinghies 52 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,360 and they'll dump some krill into the water in front of them and 53 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:25,920 they'll eat that up. But they also sometimes bottle 54 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:28,080 feed the sharks. Now, not the same way that we 55 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,600 would to a baby, but they'll send divers into the tank. 56 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,640 And at this point the sharks will come over because they 57 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:35,520 associate the food with divers, which is why you shouldn't feed 58 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,800 sharks in the wild in the wild. Sorry, that was weird. 59 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,360 But they'll have the square bottle with them. 60 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,920 They'll squirt some of the krill into the the water in front of 61 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:45,520 the sharks, usually timing it with when the shark is going to 62 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,280 inhale during their feeding. So that way they can get the 63 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,800 krill and the nutrients and whatever else they need from 64 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,680 that bottle into their system. Now, it's really cool to watch. 65 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,840 And I would highly recommend just taking an entire day 66 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,360 sitting at the Ocean Voyager exhibit in the Georgia Aquarium, 67 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,440 and then go back the next day and sit at the shark exhibit all 68 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,400 day. And if I say it enough times, 69 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:07,800 the Georgia Aquarium will acknowledge my existence and 70 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,000 they'll send a cease and desist. And I cannot wait. 71 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:12,160 But that, of course, is what I have for the correction corner. 72 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,440 And now without any more further ado, we're going to jump into 73 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,880 these sharks. The first one we have is 74 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,200 probably one of the most popular ever is the Great White Shark, 75 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,920 which I'm surprised it took this many episodes for this one to 76 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:26,200 come up. And I tried to make sure I 77 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:28,760 didn't do this as my first episode because I felt it was 78 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,040 too generic. So here we are, almost 30 if not 79 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,040 over in where we're doing the great white. 80 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:35,880 I've lost track of how many episodes I've done. 81 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,640 I should know this but off the top of my head I forgot but they 82 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,160 are the one of the most popular sharks in the world, especially 83 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,800 thanks to movies like Jaws and 47 Meters Down which if you're 84 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,920 curious about you can hear my analysis of Shameless plug in 85 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,560 earlier episodes. 47 Meters down was the last episode we did. 86 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,320 Now these sharks are part of the mackerel shark family and that 87 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,600 includes the Goblin and Mega mouth sharks. 88 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,760 The great white varies in size depending on biological gender 89 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,840 with males growing smaller than females. 90 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,600 Males tend to grow to be about 11 to 13 feet or 3.4 to 4 meters 91 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:14,200 and females grow to be about 15 to 16 feet or 4.6 to 4.9. 92 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,360 Now the largest individual documented is the world famous 93 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,920 large shark Deep Blue Marine biologist believe that she is 94 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,600 about 19 to 20 feet long and around 5.8 meters and many 95 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,520 divers get very excited when they see her and if you ever 96 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,720 look up a video of her, she's just absolutely stunning. 97 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,280 Great white sharks can grow to be about 2000kg or 4400 lbs but 98 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:38,760 of course weight varies depending on gender and genetic 99 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,400 factors. Not every great white is going 100 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,440 to grow up to 4000 lbs. They can live to be up to 70 101 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,840 years old, although many marine biologists do believe they can 102 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:49,840 live longer. It's tough to determine though, 103 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,240 as they've been unable to keep a great white in captivity, which 104 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:55,240 I'm going to talk a little bit more about later. 105 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,400 These sharks can be found all over the world. 106 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,800 They've been found in almost all coastal waters, but can be found 107 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,160 in larger density around the northeast United States, 108 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:08,480 California, South Africa, the Mediterranean, Chile, and Japan. 109 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,480 They tend to change between a variety of depths, ranging from 110 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:18,280 the surface all the way down to 1200 meters or 3900 feet. 111 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,040 They can use the depth as a benefit while hunting as they 112 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,320 are breech predators, meaning that they will attack prey from 113 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,280 below and catch them by surprise jumping out of the water. 114 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,480 Shark Week showcases this very well with their program Air 115 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:34,720 Jaws. The rendition of Air Jaws have 116 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,000 gotten more absurd as the years go on, but they aim to find new 117 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,440 ways of capturing a great white breaching from the water on 118 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,280 film. They tracked the data to find 119 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:45,720 the largest breach, which I do believe as of at least two shark 120 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,680 weeks ago was 15 feet. Now, I don't think I watched air 121 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,560 jaws this time because I kind of got tired of watching the same 122 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,240 thing over and over again, but I still think of the records 15 123 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,400 feet right now on on their their programs. 124 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,440 Now, the great whites are also migratory and will travel with 125 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,840 the seasons. They can tolerate colder waters 126 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:06,600 off of Canada during the summer, but we'll have to move South 127 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:08,920 when the winter comes and move to the southern hemisphere 128 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:10,800 because you know who likes the cold? 129 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,160 Not me. Not me at all. 130 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:15,120 Now they have been recorded traveling over 20,000 131 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:20,480 kilometers, or 12,000 miles, or 11,000 nautical miles, which I 132 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,800 just found out there's a difference between miles and 133 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,040 nautical miles. The difference is that nautical 134 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,960 miles account for the Earth's curve on the water and in the 135 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,760 air, while miles only account for distance covered on land. 136 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:36,120 So I think elevation is a factor, but I'm not entirely 137 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:37,600 sure. You know, This is why I do 138 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,280 social work. There's far fewer numbers. 139 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,320 The great white shark has a wide variety of prey, from seals to 140 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,560 Bony fish like tuna, other sharks, and even giant and 141 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:48,520 colossal squid. And according to Shark Week, 142 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:50,880 great whites fight colossal squid often. 143 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,000 And why they're beefing with a colossal squid, I don't know. 144 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,680 But the fact that a 20 foot shark at its largest is fighting 145 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,200 a 46 foot squid is just insane and I support it with my entire 146 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,040 heart. It Whites are also one of the 147 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,040 few sharks that pop their head out of the water to look at 148 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,320 stuff like prey or boats or clouds. 149 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,160 I'm not entirely positive, as the site said they poked their 150 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,160 head up to gaze at objects, which is kind of what everyone 151 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,760 does all the time. We're all just kind of out here 152 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,320 gazing at things. But sharks do it too. 153 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,320 These sharks are a great example of counter shading, as their 154 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,120 lighter Gray body works at many depths to break up their 155 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,600 silhouette from above. But when you're looking below 156 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,160 and looking at their white belly, it's the sunlight that 157 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,600 eats it up and then it breaks up their silhouette as well, so 158 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,400 they're really hard to see. Great whites are one of the most 159 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,720 feared sharks in the world, due in part to movies such as Jaws 160 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:44,240 using them as the main antagonist. 161 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,160 Although that shark was straight up just a menace and very 162 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,480 unrealistic, but rather fun to watch anyway. 163 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:52,840 But also the way they eat their prey can invoke a lot of fear 164 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,520 responses. Seeing a possibly 20 foot shark 165 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:58,600 launch itself 15 feet almost completely out of the water 166 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,440 would be unsettling for many. But when they catch prey such as 167 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,760 dolphins or eat a whale carcass, they aren't really gentle with 168 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,000 it. It's not a simple bite and 169 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,160 leave. They tend to grab and then shake 170 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,280 their head until they get a bit off that they can eat. 171 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,880 White sharks are big fans of whales that have passed as their 172 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:19,240 blubber is full of calories. These whales will attract many 173 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,840 sharks and marine biologists believe that they use whale 174 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,680 carcasses as a potential mating spot, but it hasn't been 175 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,800 confirmed. Marine biologists are not sure 176 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,440 how mating works for white sharks, as it is first observed 177 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,360 in 1997 and it was only documented in 2020, so about 178 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:37,960 four years ago, going on five now. 179 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,000 This is also a very small sample size. 180 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,919 Without knowing where mating occurs, it makes it difficult to 181 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:44,640 thoroughly document how it happens. 182 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,920 Like we know birds dance, frogs crow loudly, alligators chomp 183 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:53,160 their teeth together, and sharks take a guess. 184 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,280 We don't know now. Globally, white sharks are 185 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,240 listed as vulnerable for conservation status, but in 186 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,480 Europe they're listed as critically endangered as their 187 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:03,800 numbers have dropped more than in other areas. 188 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,680 Although they are one of the most popular sharks, very little 189 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,320 is known about them as they tend to be very elusive and their 190 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,800 habitat covers a lot of area. They have unsuccessfully been 191 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:16,760 kept in captivity, but the longest lasting a few months 192 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,200 before it was released. These sharks grow very fast and 193 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,240 the species that have been kept in captivity, few have died 194 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,360 after a few days or weeks. And those that were able to be 195 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,240 kept alive just outgrew their tank really rapidly and they had 196 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:31,480 to be moved to multiple different tanks, which teams 197 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,400 realized wasn't sustainable and wasn't good for the shark, so 198 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:35,800 they eventually had to release it. 199 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,000 Marine biologists and researchers are still trying to 200 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,680 figure out the best way to keep them if they were to in the 201 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:43,360 future. Now, great whites are also 202 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,720 ovoviviperous, which means the eggs hatch internally. 203 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,320 And marine biologists have recorded pups eating their eggs 204 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,120 of their siblings, which sounds insane and rather intense, but 205 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,280 they also pretty much eat everything they can put their 206 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,720 mouth on, except for humans. They tend to leave us alone, 207 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,080 which I do respect and I appreciate very much from them. 208 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,200 But that, of course, is what we have for the great white. 209 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,320 Now we're going to move on to our second shark, which is going 210 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:12,040 to be the Megamouth. Now, these guys look like an 211 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,840 early Muppet prototype that got the Pinocchio treatment. 212 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:16,440 You know, like the I'm a real boy. 213 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:18,600 And then they got released into the world and had a bunch of 214 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,000 babies, and now they're all over the ocean, which is cool. 215 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,880 So these sharks are found in the deep ocean and are rarely seen. 216 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,160 This is a there's usually a big uproar on social media when they 217 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,960 have been seen, which I mean, I feel whenever one shows up, it 218 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:33,360 should be treated as a holiday that that's just so cool. 219 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,240 They tend to grow to be around 5.4 meters or 18 feet long if 220 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,360 they're female, while the males typically Max out at 4 meters or 221 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:44,040 13 feet. Now there is very much debate 222 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,440 online as to what color these sharks actually are. 223 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,720 Some people that have seen them say they're black, others say 224 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,840 dark blue, some say Gray and others say brown. 225 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,120 So take your pick. They get to be your favorite 226 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:57,040 color. For right now, they can be 227 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:58,600 purple, we'll go with purple. That's fine. 228 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:01,120 They have a large mouth, as their name would imply. 229 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,800 Their eyes are small and placed towards the top of their head, 230 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,480 and their nose is just above their lip and it has widespread 231 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,680 nostrils. They have rubbery lips that are 232 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:12,680 uneven, their top lip sticks out more than they're lower, and 233 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:15,120 they have small teeth that can be visible while they're eating. 234 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,320 They are the smallest of the large filter feeders. 235 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,480 As the basking and whale sharks are much larger, measuring 236 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,040 around 30 to 40 feet. Marine biologists believed that 237 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,200 they were bioluminescent or had luminous photofores. 238 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,800 That's a weird word to say when they were first examined. 239 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,640 Many theories were pitched to explain this glow, but none can 240 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,640 really be confirmed. That was until 2020. 241 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,320 Researchers finally discovered what caused these sharks to 242 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,560 glow, and it's that the inside of their upper lip is very white 243 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:44,960 and reflects light really well. So they don't glow at all. 244 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,680 They just have really reflective gear on all the time to not get 245 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:51,000 hit by submarines, which I think is effective and also is a joke. 246 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,120 They don't actually do that. They do have a very white lip 247 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:55,000 though. It does reflect light. 248 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,440 But many people who have seen mega mile sharks believe that 249 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,480 they are juvenile orcas before they can be properly identified. 250 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,440 Now, I don't really have a clue what a juvenile orca looks like, 251 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,200 but if I were a juvenile orca, it'd be kind of offended because 252 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,400 these dudes are kind of that type of like ugly cute, like an 253 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:12,920 Opossum. They're rather hideous, but I 254 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:15,280 love them. Now, I do need to clarify 255 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,480 something. If you're listening in 256 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,240 Australia, I need you to look up an American Opossum. 257 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:23,200 And Americans, I need you to look up an Australian Opossum 258 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,560 because Australia got the adorable version of this one and 259 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,280 ours got into the leftover math. So it it's fine. 260 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,280 That was a quick tangent. I just need the world to know 261 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,280 that now. The mega mouse shark tends to 262 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:40,000 spend its day around 120 to 160 meters or 390 to 220 feet deep. 263 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,400 During the night, they spend their time around 12 to 25 264 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:48,400 meters or 39 to 82 feet, which is rather deep, but a lot more 265 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:50,360 accessible during the night time than I thought. 266 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,200 But also if you've ever been out on the beach at the night time, 267 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:56,720 I can just say at night, at night it's it's pitch black. 268 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:58,640 So it makes sense we haven't seen a whole bunch of them, 269 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:00,440 especially if they're so deep during the day. 270 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,320 Now the mega mouth also tends to swim around 1.5 to 2.1 271 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:09,160 kilometers an hour or .81 to 1.13 knots. 272 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,560 So we don't really get mph here, but I think it's because it 273 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:14,800 wouldn't really register and it's just incredibly slow. 274 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:19,720 Like go with one mile an hour and then subtract 1 and you're 275 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,080 really close to how fast they go. 276 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,920 They're they're pretty slow. They tend to migrate between 277 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,040 these depths following the flow of plankton through the water 278 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,440 column, which would rise at night and fall during the 279 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:32,440 daytime. These sharks tend to stay around 280 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:34,480 tropical waters. Like many sharks, they'll be 281 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,320 found around the equator, Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of 282 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:38,920 Cancer. Although they have not been 283 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,960 observed to go into the Gulf of Mexico, but have been caught 284 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,840 sparsely throughout the tropics. Now this does not mean they're 285 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,480 not in the Gulf of Mexico, it's just we haven't seen them there. 286 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,080 So they've been found in other areas and we just kind of assume 287 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:52,640 they're they're not there at this point. 288 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,800 Now very little is known about these sharks as they are few and 289 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,000 far between. Since 1976, when the first mega 290 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,320 mouth was spotted, there have been 99 mega mouth sharks caught 291 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:06,200 or spotted. Very little is known about many 292 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:08,560 sharks, but there have been thousands of interactions with 293 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:11,640 whale sharks and the whole tourism industry around them and 294 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:13,440 we still aren't sure how they reproduce or mate. 295 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,600 So maybe a long while before we know a lot about mega mouths. 296 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:20,600 Despite the lack of available information, marine biologists 297 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,040 have observed that these sharks are ovoviviparous, which once 298 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,960 again means they have eggs that hatch wall inside the mommy 299 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,760 shark do do do do do do and then they're born after developing 300 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,000 further. Something that is very neat 301 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,400 about these sharks is that researchers had caught 2 302 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,400 individuals off the coast of Baja California and Mexico and 303 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,800 they took adna sample to test for genetic diversity. 304 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:43,720 Now this often shows if groups are intermingling or if they 305 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,360 stay away from each other. They were able to see that this 306 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,600 there was not genetic diversity meaning of these sharks do in 307 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,640 fact meet and hang out with each other across the ocean, which is 308 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,920 pretty fascinating. And that of course is what we 309 00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:00,160 have for the mega mouth shark. So that brings us to our last 310 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:05,120 shark of the episode, which is going to be the leopard shark. 311 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,200 Now, First off, I'd like to clarify for our international 312 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,760 listeners once again, Australia, you don't only have different 313 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,040 opossums, you also have different leopard sharks. 314 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,600 So Peter River, I need y'all to listen up real quick. 315 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,920 Evidently Australia and the US switched zebra and leopard shark 316 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,720 names because in the very first episode of Deep Dives with 317 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:25,560 Sharks. Find it wherever you get your 318 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:27,760 podcasts. I covered this US zebra shark 319 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,480 known as the leopard shark in Australia, but this episode I'm 320 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,960 covering the US leopard shark that is known as the zebra shark 321 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,600 in Australia. Really glad I didn't cover them 322 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,360 in the same episode. Now for further clarification, 323 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,640 this shark is not the yellow shark with brown spots that you 324 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:46,720 see in many aquariums. These are the smaller Gray dudes 325 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,920 with brown elongated spots. No, I'm just going to get into 326 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:50,560 the shark. It's fine. 327 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,840 Now the leopard shark scientific name, I'm going to try to speak 328 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,000 Latin again, have not done this in a while, but this is for 329 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,560 clarification. It's the Triachis semi fasciata 330 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:03,920 that sounded good. We're going to go with that. 331 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,960 They're also species of hound shark, so that might make it a 332 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,800 little easier to differentiate. These guys are found only around 333 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,800 the West Coast of the US, Canada, and Mexico, but mostly 334 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,680 being found around California. The leopard chart grows to be 335 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:21,080 about 1.2 to 1.5 meters in length, which is about 3.9 to 336 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,720 4.9 feet now. I thought they were much 337 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:25,160 smaller. Every picture you see of them 338 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,200 they look absolutely tiny and it always gets me when I realized 339 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,080 they're almost as tall as me as someone who's not 6 feet tall. 340 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,440 So Yep, got a shout out to all the short kings. 341 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,040 Anyway, they are typically a grayish brown color with a 342 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,120 lighter brown spots that have flatter heads with wide set 343 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:40,680 eyes. They kind of look like they're 344 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,680 bored all the time which is just interesting. 345 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,640 I think that's kind of funny. Their spots appear in bands and 346 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,080 saddles along their back and their head, with smaller 347 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,040 triangular pectoral fins and even smaller pair of cauddle 348 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,600 fins. They form large schooling groups 349 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,680 after they are born, and often with other smooth hounds and 350 00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:59,080 spiny dogfish, which is really cool because I don't you don't 351 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,000 really hear about too many sharks teaming up, which is 352 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:02,360 neat. These schools tend to be 353 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,440 nomadic, meaning they will travel almost constantly, and 354 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:07,960 they'll show up in areas for a few hours then disappear about 355 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,520 as quickly as they arrive. While in these traveling 356 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,359 schools, they tend to stay within a certain range and they 357 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,000 will not interact with other schools of sharks that have 358 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,880 formed, thus causing the different sharks in different 359 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:20,480 areas to have different genetic codes. 360 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:22,200 How many times can I say different in that sentence? 361 00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:25,160 Probably a few more. This can allow marine biologists 362 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,920 to see the ranges of these schools by catching individuals 363 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,480 and taking a genetic sample to see how far they span. 364 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,640 So unlike the mega mouse shark, where all the species have 365 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:37,320 similar genetic code, these guys can tell where they're from 366 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,720 because of their genetics, which is kind of neat. 367 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,000 These sharks often follow the tides to hunt and take advantage 368 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:45,560 of prey caught in shallower waters. 369 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,560 They typically spend time there in depths of about four meters 370 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,920 of 13 feet or less, but have been observed going about as 371 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:56,920 deep as 91 meters or 299 feet, which is a very specific number 372 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,120 there, specific for the Pacific. Who knew? 373 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,400 But they eat a variety of prey, including crabs, Bony fish such 374 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,720 as anchovies, rockfish, herring and croakers. 375 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,280 But they'll also eat shrimp, clams and fish eggs. 376 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,800 But if they are being opportunistic, they'll also go 377 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,200 for juvenile smooth hounds, shovel nose, guitar fish, bat 378 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,760 rays, algae, and eelgrass. Now the leopard shark is a 379 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,960 suction feeder similar to the zebra shark and the nurse shark. 380 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:24,720 So I'm kind of seeing the overlap in the names making a 381 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,280 little bit of sense here. But the style of feeding 382 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,880 requires them to open their bucal cavity that creates 383 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:33,000 powerful suction. Now this will trap their prey, 384 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,280 allowing them to be caught. And it's kind of like a tractor 385 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,240 beam. So, you know, sci-fi, we got 386 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,000 that going to. Similar to the other sharks, the 387 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,360 leopard shark will shed hundreds of teeth in their lifetime. 388 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,040 While leopard shark loses a tooth, it will typically take 9 389 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:45,760 to 12 days to replace that tooth. 390 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,400 I'm not sure if that's fast or slow or average. 391 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,760 I've not come across really any of the time it takes other 392 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,560 sharks to regrow their teeth. So we'll find out later. 393 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,400 Now, leopard sharks are very timid, especially around humans, 394 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:00,920 and they tend to flee, then fight. 395 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,800 There's only a single recorded bite that occurred in 1955 when 396 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,520 a diver was having a Nosebleed. They reported that the diver 397 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,440 suffered no injuries, but this is a pretty good reminder and 398 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:12,920 great example of why you shouldn't go in the water if 399 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,760 you're bleeding. Sharks tend to act erratically 400 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:17,920 when there's blood in the water. Thankfully, this one didn't do 401 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,120 any damage, but it still probably wasn't the most calming 402 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:24,200 experience. Now, these sharks are caught 403 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:26,960 rather frequently. It's both by recreational sport 404 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,560 and commercial fisheries. They're said to have good meat 405 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,720 and can be sold in a variety of ways, but Despite that fact, 406 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,400 they're only listed as Least Concerned under the ICUN. 407 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,360 They often carry toxins if they live close to humans, making 408 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:42,560 them less of a target because if there's toxins in the meat, they 409 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,000 can't eat it. They are susceptible to sharp 410 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,520 population decline as they take 10 to 12 months to develop pups 411 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,360 and they can give birth to up to 37 pups. 412 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,400 Now this does sound like, well shouldn't they have such high 413 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,800 numbers then? That sounds pretty quick, but 414 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,320 they do take longer than most sharks to mature, especially for 415 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,200 their size. So they're slow growing, meaning 416 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,240 they are easier to catch by their predators. 417 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:08,680 So they're pretty easy prey sometimes. 418 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,080 But that there is what I had for the leopard shark. 419 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:14,240 It's going to be it for the episode as well. 420 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:16,920 I appreciate you all listening. Of course, if you want to ask 421 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:20,200 any questions or get more updates, you can follow along on 422 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,040 Instagram at deep Dives with sharks. 423 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,640 I don't really use the Twitter anymore, so if you message me or 424 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,200 follow me there, I I'm going to try to check it. 425 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,280 We also have a discord as I mentioned, so check that out. 426 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,040 That's a really good way to interact with everyone. 427 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,040 You can send in any comments questions. 428 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,400 You can also go ask anything in the comments section below. 429 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:41,240 Lastly, if you learned anything new, be sure to give this a new 430 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,000 rating on Spotify. Five stars there of course, or 431 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:45,800 Apple as well. And of course, share it with 432 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:47,720 someone and hopefully they'll learn something too. 433 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:50,560 Appreciate you guys so much and I can't wait to see you in the 434 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:51,000 next one.