I know what you're thinking, "Jacob, how could you make this title so provocative? I know the other puns were a bit risque, but this is another level." Well cool it, because it is still a successful innuendo. Especially when you hear about the rather interesting animals below. These aquatic animals may have a bad rep if you stereotype them only by name however, they are rather docile, elegant, and in my opinion beautiful creatures. I'm speaking of three species of shark. These three are:
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| The Mega-mouth Shark (Megachasma pelagios) |
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| The Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) |
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| The Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) |
After looking at them, you may recognize these species of shark. They have huge mouths and vestigial teeth, which basically means they are there for show and are utterly useless when it comes to digestion. "Jake, that's great and all, but what does this all have to do with spit or swallow?" Well these three sharks have evolved and adapted a new technique for feeding. Filter feeding is their method of eating and that is because these large creatures have evolved to eat some of the smallest living organisms such as, krill or even plankton. This is just a portion of the small varied diet these sharks consume. They have also been known to feed on:
- macro-algae
- Christmas Island red crab larvae
- small nektonic life (small squids, or vertebrates)
- small fish
- clouds of eggs and sperm during mass spawning of fish shoals
The three sharks all are know to obtain its food through a process known as ram filtration. This is common method that whales have evolved as well. It involves the predator, in this case the sharks, opening their mouth and swimming into the prey listed above. The food (prey) and water passes through the mouth. The food is "swallowed" whole and the water is "spit" out. Now you see the innuendo. I know, I know, it is incredibly clever, but their is more to learn. The mega-mouth and whale sharks also are able to suction pump volumes of water containing prey into their mouth. Both methods work essentially the same way in that the filter in the shark's mouth captures the food and disperses the water back into the ocean.
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| Whale Shark |
These species of sharks are pretty amazing, but by far my favorite is the whale shark. It is definitely the most exotic looking with colorful dots throughout its backside. It is even considered a deity in Vietnamese culture; named "Ca Ong", which translates to "Sir Fish." Not such a bad title for a fish. Another reason to love this shark over the other two would be it's habitat. If you ever decided to stop by for a visit with your friend Sir Fish then you would find yourself in a tropical region of the ocean, right around the equator. The basking sharks are found in colder climates at both ends of the poles and as for the mega-mouth, well these guys are fairly rare. They however, are known to swim deep in the ocean; recorded at depths of 200 meters. So its safe to say where you will find me when I'm out looking for some filter feeding sharks, you know just on a weekend getaway, nothing fancy.
References:
All images thanks to Wikimedia
"Basking Shark." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basking_shark>.
"Megamouth." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megamouth>.
"Whale Shark." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark>.
After reading this blog not only was I surprised but astonished. When I think of sharks all I think about is the great white shark, that I have developed a phobia for over the years due to the fact that there are more stories about it than anyone could account for. To know that there are sharks that do not harm you but act like whales when they eat, and that is a relief. Just some quick facts about the great white shark as a reminder of how dangerous they are would be is the fact that they are premiere predators, there skeleton is made fully out of cartilage, they have around 3000 teeth however they don't use them to chew, and what helps them predate is two very important aspects. Those would be there unbelievable sense of smell and their unbelievable ability to detect electrical impulses. However another interesting fact is that they don't mean to harm humans and most of the deaths are accidental, or due to the fact that the shark smelled blood.
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ReplyDeletelaughed most of the time I read this. The innuendo was hilarious and clever, I also found it humorous that you credited yourself for it being clever. After reading this I started to think of some that related to this blog. The humor made this post way more interesting, I read this post and only this post just because of the title. Other than being funny, I thought it was very informative. I knew the whale sharks didn’t have real teeth to kill its food, but I not know for sure what they ate or how they ate until I read this. I like that you used multiple examples of sharks and pictures of each one. I also like that you explained a little bit about each shark, which one your favorite was, and why it was your favorite. This post was well written, funny, interesting, and informative. There may be some things that could help strengthen this post but I wouldn't be able to tell you what they are. This post is a masterpiece in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was simply hilarious and interesting to read! This was a very creative way to present this topic, it really captured my attention when I was looking through. I really like your use of internal dialogue to push through your main thoughts. At first I was confused but then I realized that you were going for that kind of style. The information was presented well as well. Overall this post was awesome and hilarious. Thank you for making me enjoy what I was reading. Thank you!
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