Newport Aquarium is kicking off their own Shark Week alongside Discovery’s famous Shark Week, which started Monday.
Shark Week allows the Newport Aquarium to showcase some of their most popular sharks. The Aquarium features 85 feet of acrylic tunnels through a 385,000-gallon shark tank, a shark bridge and a shark nursery. Of course, patrons will also be allowed to touch the sharks at the Aquarium’s 5,000-gallon exhibit.
Tickets are available on www.newportaquarium.com.
Newport Aquarium’s summerlong Shark Summer runs from May 27 to Sept. 11.
This week, the Newport Aquarium is setting out to dispel commonly believed myths surrounding the ocean’s greatest predators. Shark experts at the Newport Aquarium are trying to change the narrative by releasing a true or false game to educate the public.
Below is the Newport Aquarium’s true or false game about sharks:
Myth: Sharks have no predators.
False! In 2021 there were only nine fatal shark attacks reported across the globe. Experts estimate humans kill more than 100 million sharks a year. Nearly ¾ of those 100 million sharks are killed for their fins. People are a bigger threat to sharks than sharks are to them.
Myth: All Sharks are man eaters.
False! Scientists believe most shark attacks are a case of mistaken identity. Sharks don’t view humans as prey, but can sometimes mistake people who are on surf boards or wearing floats as sea turtles or sea lions, their natural prey.
Myth: Sharks can’t stop swimming.
It depends. Some have to swim to breathe, but not all. Those who do are called “obligate swimmers,” which means they have to swim to keep water moving over their gills to breathe. Some can do what’s called “buccal pumping,” where they can pull water into their mouth and pass it over their gills while resting.
Myth: Sharks will eat anything and everything!
Nope! All of the sharks at Newport Aquarium are fed restaurant quality food and have special diets put together by biologists to make sure they get all the nutrients they need. The sharks are also trained to feed at particular stations around the tank, so they don’t typically feel the need to hunt for themselves.
Myth: All Sharks are the same.
False! There are more than 400 species of sharks recognized by scientists. An estimated 80% are less than four feet long. One third of shark species are near threatened or critically endangered, mainly due to human activity.
Myth: Sharks are ravenous feeders and eat the most out of any other animal in the aquarium.
False! Newport Aquarium’s penguins eat more than most of the sharks! How much a shark eats depends on its size, but sharks have a much slower metabolism and take a while to digest meals. Sharks can go up to 6 weeks without eating. The penguins get fed twice a day – that’s a lot of herring!
Myth: Sharks can smell blood a mile away.
While it is true that sharks have a fantastic sense of smell and taste, detecting one drop of blood from miles away is an exaggeration. They do use their powerful senses, including picking up electrical pulses from a distance, to find food or avoid a potential threat.
