This year it’s the 25th Anniversary of Shark Week, a week-long series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks and aired on the Discovery Channel.
Here, we’ve selected our favourite 5 shark shots, taken from some of the documentaries featured in Shark Week. With each photograph we’ve listed five fascinating shark facts, to raise awareness and respect for these great titans of the sea.
1. Great white sharks eat 11 tons of food a year! Human beings eat roughly half a ton of food every year. Photo © Discovery Networks. Film: Air Jaws Apocalypse.
2. Sharks’ eyes are on the sides of their heads, so they have an amazingly wide sightline spanning nearly 360 degrees. Photo © Discovery Networks. Film: Air Jaws Apocalypse.
3. While many of us have learned to fear sharks, they’re the ones who should fear us. People are sharks’ biggest predator. In fact, humans kill more than 73 million sharks annually through activities such as shark finning. Photo © Discovery Networks. Film: BEST BITES: 25 great shark moments
4. Sharks shed their teeth constantly, so divers and beachcombers can find samples that are anywhere from a few days to thousands of years old. You can even find fossilized shark teeth in sedimentary rocks on dry land that used to be covered in prehistoric ocean. Photo © Discovery Networks. Film: BEST BITES: 25 great shark moments
5. Did you know? The great white shark can smell a seal colony from as far as two miles away. Photo © Discovery Networks. Film: Air Jaws Apocalypse.
Find out more about Shark Week
