by Nikki Biskis
In September 2018, SARA received what is probably the cutest scientific interview of all time. Billy, Charlie, Dylan and Jayden of Birmingham Primary School in Mount Evelyn, VIC, had some very creative questions regarding sharks and rays. So, naturally, four lucky biologists from the SARA team responded right back to these curious minds. Some of our favourites are below!
- Do some sharks fight?
Sharks do not really fight very often but bigger sharks do scare off smaller sharks. If two sharks are swimming straight towards each other the smaller shark is the one that will move out of the way to let the big one carry on swimming. Big sharks can also eat small sharks!
- Do sharks mean to eat people?
No! Unlike humans, sharks don’t have any hands, so they can’t pick things up to figure out what they are. Instead they take a bite. Only once they take a taste of something can they be sure of what it is. Humans are not on the normal menu for sharks. So usually once they taste us they don’t want another bite.
- Do sharks smell oil?
Sharks have an incredible sense of smell, so it is very likely they can smell oil. Nearly two thirds of a shark’s brain is for thinking about smells and they can sniff out just one teaspoon of fish blood from a swimming pool sized area of water.
