Sharks, the arcane rulers of the sea, have long been shrouded in enigma and myth. From their sleek bodies to their razor-sharp teeth, these mighty sea animals have been part of human imagination for centuries.
But how these “sea giants” are portrayed as blood-thirsty human-eaters in movies is like giving them a bad rap for being the ocean’s most misunderstood villains. In reality, they are gentle predators trying to survive in their aquatic world.
Amid all, the question is: What do sharks eat?
In this fin-tastic article, we will dive into the realm of shark’s cuisine, their diverse diets and the mealtime adventures of these majestic Apex predators.
Shark – The Mighty Mystic Ocean Animal
Sharks are opportunistic sea creatures. They are a group of elasmobranch fish with cartilage skeletons rather than bones.
Do you know that there are around 500 types of sharks inhabiting a wide range of environments and marine ecosystems? From open seawater, coral reefs, and shallow coastal water to the ocean floor down to over 6500 feet deep – you can find sharks anywhere!
While some of these well-adapted sharks prefer warmer tropical waters like a sunny beach getaway, others thrive in colder territories as if they were having a penguin party! Let’s get introduced to some common species of sharks are:
- Great White Shark: One of the mightiest shark species thriving in the coastal water
- Hammerhead Shark: They are named so because of their hammer-shaped head. They are formidable predators characterised by their unique hunting skills and sense of smell.
- Tiger Shark: A species of ground shark, a tiger shark is a micro predator with females lending as long as 5 m. They are better known for their voracious appetite and wide food spectrum.
- Whale Shark: The “gentle giant” of the ocean, the whale shark, also known as the filter shark, lives on plankton and small fish.
- Mako Shark: One of the speediest and most agile predators, the mako shark inhibits both offshore and coastal water.
- Blue Shark: A species of requiem shark, the blue shark can be found in the tropical and temperate oceans.
What Do Sharks Eat?
Sharks are the ultimate foodies among all sea creatures. This is because they are not picky when it comes to their food. From coal to small bony fish, and marine mammals to crustaceans – they like to eat almost anything they find. You may occasionally find sharks having an underwater salad party!
Some sharks even gallop small shark species. It means these mighty animals have an incredibly broad range of foods to live on. More surprisingly, shark’s food chain includes food that is not even a sea creature.
Again, what is chomped on by sharks depends on the species they belong to. For example, while bonnetheads love hard-shelled mollusks, tiger sharks eat almost everything they get their teeth on. The diet of some shark species like the tiger shark is so driven by the environment in which it resides that it can vary from coastal to pelagic food chains. This signifies the excellent adaptability of shark species despite the change of the availability of their prey.
To explain, it’s no less than a tapestry driven by factors such as habitat, environment, and size, other than the shark species.
The shark smorgasbord include:
- Fish
- Sea turtles
- Octopus
- Squid and crustaceans
- Seals and sea lions
Bon appétit, ocean predators!
Let’s dig deeper into the types of shark diets and sharks’ feeding habits:
Shark Diet: What They Feast On?
Filter Feeders: The Gentle Giants
Filter-feeder sharks, such as megamouth sharks, whale sharks, and basking sharks feed on plankton – phytoplankton and zooplankton.
They differ from how we see sharks – the fierce predators; These ocean celebrities have adapted a totally different and unique culinary niche. They don’t really hunt their prey. Instead, these gentle giants adopt passive hunting techniques that involve filtering and catching small organisms as they swim.
For their passive filtering mechanism, filter-feeders have gill rakers – specialised structures – in their mouth. These structures act as sieves and captivate organisms as water is expelled out through the shark’s large gill.
Carnivorous Sharks: The Sea Scavengers
Carnivores or meat-eater sharks eat marine mammals (seals and dolphins), fish, mollusks, crustaceans, etc., as their primary food.
Some large sharks also feast on fish such as tuna, sardines, or even small shark species. Don’t get perplexed if you see common large carnivores dieting on seabirds. The nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum), Mako Shark (Isurus oxyrinchus), etc., are a few members of the carnivorous shark family.
However, not all carnivores eat anything they get their teeth on. You will find some sharks that are very picky eaters. The diet of carnivores depends on several factors – prey availability, nutritional content, and hunting strategies.
For example, Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) prefer consuming certain types of fish depending on the ease of capture and its energy content. This selective feeding behaviour indicates that some carnivores adopt a special dietary strategy to maximise their energy intake and hunting efficacy in the unfavourable Arctic marine ecosystem.
That said, all sharks are carnivores to some extent. Surprisingly, sharks only consume a very small percentage of their body weight – around 0.5 to 3.0 percent daily. Despite their carnivorous nature, the reason behind their small intake is their underdeveloped digestive system and unique food habits driven by their energy consumption and metabolic rate.
Time to Hunt! The Shark Style!
Sharks – the mighty predators – know how to keep their dining super-exciting. From secretive ambushes to fast chases, they have some jaw-dropping techniques when it comes to preparing for their next dine-out. For example:
- Great white sharks hunt their prey using stealthy ambush strategies in which they can be as speedy as 25 Km/h and reach around 1200m deep down the sea.
- Another well-adopted strategy by Mako sharks is the rapid chase tactic. In this hunting process, the species chase their prey at a speed of 74 km/h.
- Tiger sharks – the opportunistic predators – use the methodical hunting tactic and approach the prey by slowly circling to ensure it doesn’t get the time to escape.
- During their breeding period, or while hunting in feeding grounds rich in prey, sharks hunt in groups. The aim is to boost the success rate of hunting.
Sensory Shenanigans: Prowess of Sharks
Sharks also use their excellent sensory abilities to navigate, pinpoint, and hunt their prey. For instance:
- These Apex predators are great at detecting any movement and fluctuation in pressure in the water. This acute spatial awareness with sharks’ sensory-based lateral line system allows them to sense and sniff out their prey from miles away.
- No prey can escape a shark’s eye, even if it hides behind a rock or in the sand. Sharks fall on their prey using their excellent capability to sense electric current.
Besides these sensing abilities, sharks use their well-developed sensory adaptations to augment their predatory efficiency. For example:
Using their developed hearing capabilities, sharks can sense low-frequency signals to locate wounded prey.
The advanced hearing capabilities are doubled down by a shark’s ability to smell blood concentration even from the deep sea. Thus, preying on a wounded animal becomes even more easier.
Sharks have excellent visionary skills that allow some species to see even better than humans in the deep sea.
Some shark species have highly developed electroreception. For example, hammerhead sharks, through their electroreception capabilities, use their spacious head to find and prey on stingrays even if they are hiding miles down the sea.
These sensory adaptations give sharks a significant advantage in hunting and capturing their prey.
How Sharks Help Keep Equilibrium in Marine Ecosystems
Sharks, as top predators in the marine ecosystem, play a critical role in maintaining underwater equilibrium in aquatic food chains.
They do so by regulating the population of their prey. The foraging behaviour these apex predators cultivate passively contributes to making coral reefs and seagrass beds more resilient. It helps check the population of herbivorous species that can degrade the marine ecosystem.
In short, sharks play a pivotal role in upholding biodiversity and equilibrium in marine ecosystems.
Conservation
Preserving the integrity of the aquatic system is no joke!
That said, protecting sharks, the mighty sea animal, is critical for keeping our ocean system in harmony and for that, a deep understanding of their diet is a must.
Overfishing, habitat destruction, increase in toxicity, anthropogenic carbon dioxide, etc., can disrupt the optimal environment of the aquatic ecosystem, ultimately leading to a decline in the number of these apex predators.
The Marine Megafauna Foundation reported a slip of 71% in the global abundance of aquatic sharks and rays over the last five decades. This decline has been attributed to overfishing.
Preserving the shark’s optimal habitat and implementing sustainable fishing practices can help sharks survive for the long term. Let’s rally together to protect these majestic creatures – our ultimate ocean pals!
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