Sharks Around The World Part I - Belize

Dedicated to Freddie - Good luck!!

            Graced with glorious coastlines, Belize is a popular tourist destination for many avid divers - especially shark watchers. Numerous shark species visit the waters of Belize seasonally, with certain reef sharks remaining there year round. Caribbean reef and blacktip sharks (the latter not to be confused with blacktip reef sharks) patrol the sandbanks by day and rule the water at night, scouring the reef and the outlying Belize Fan for prey. Whale sharks migrate annually to the coast of Belize, making a perfect attraction for snorkelers, while bull sharks and tiger sharks stalk the seabed.

            Alike to many other coastal reefs, the Belize Fan plays host to the annual mating of pelagic fish (fish that normally live in the ocean). This natural phenomenon attracts whale sharks in their dozens, who come to feed on the fish eggs as well as the plankton rich water. Bull and tiger sharks, meanwhile, prefer to feast on the fish themselves. Cubera snapper fish spawn in immense balls, with tens of thousands of fish mating at the same time. Working in tandem with others of their species, bull and tiger sharks corner the fish, surrounding them from all angles, before darting into the ball for a mouthful of fish.

Cubera snapper fish mate
in large balls.

            Of the three reefs on the Belize Fan, Turneffe Atoll is by far the most diverse. Aside from the iconic coral reefs, which teem with marine life, there are also vast planes of sea grass, which are a favoured feeding ground for manatees and sea cows, and interminable mangrove swamps, which play host to many young and adolescent fish who have yet to emerge onto the reef.

A lemon shark leaves the mangroves
of Turneffe Atoll.

            Amidst the diverse life of the mangrove swamps, lemon shark pups lurk, honing their hunting skills as they grow. These shallow waters are ideal for the pups to be born in (lemon sharks, amongst others, give birth to live young rather than laying eggs), as larger sharks are unable to enter them and feast upon the new-born pups living there.

            Tiger sharks, one of the most feared shark species, inhabit the waters of Belize year-round, preying on the constant population of hawksbill turtles in the area. Belize is one of many turtle nesting grounds in the Caribbean, making it an ideal home for predatory sharks. As both the turtles and the sharks grow more endangered, however, the populations of both have decreased, leaving a gaping vacuum in the marine ecosystem.

A diver swims alongside a whale shark
at the Belize Fan.

Golf-Loving Sharks!!

  This is a novelty post for any golf-loving shark fans out there. The world renowned Shark Lake Challenge at Carbrook golf course near Brisbane in Western Australia is given its name for just that: a lake full of sharks!!
  Of course, this course's water hazard (what a coincidental name for it!!) is a fresh water lake, so there are only a handful of species that could live there; after several species of fresh water shark were ruled out because of climate preferences, three sharks were left in the frame: the Borneo River shark, the Ganges River shark and the notorious bull shark. Quite naturally, bad luck befell the golfers: their missing golf-balls were in the clutches of the world's most dangerous shark.
  It all started when the nearby Logan River broke its banks and flooded much of the surrounding land. When the tidal waters receded, everything proceeded as normal. Not a disturbance could be seen in the water feature, except for the occasional, hollow ker-plunk of a mishit golf ball penetrating its surface. However, one golfer soon spotted a dark grey fin on the lake. He reported it to the staff, who discarded it as a fantasy. Their reasoning was that their members tended to indulge in the occasional beer on the course and this wild flight of fancy was just a little bit of alcohol fuelled imagination.
  Despite this, more golfers soon reported the same thing. It was only when the staff were given some blurry, slightly off focus video footage of an unmistakable grey fin gliding across the water's surface.
  The staff called in marine biologists and several shark experts. After some careful examination of the sharks' behaviour, they deduced that not only were the sharks living in the water feature and feeding off the bream and carp that resided there, but that they were mating and breeding there too.
  Since the shocking discovery, the Shark Lake Challenge golf course was created and the sharks remain as much a part of the local wildlife as the birds, mice and insects which live around the fairways. Regular members sometimes throw pieces of chicken into the lake and watch euphorically and enthusiastically as young sharks devour the meat.  

Two Headed Bull Shark Found of Florida

On the 6th of March this year, a fisherman found a two-headed bull shark embryo of Florida Keys. The shark was one of roughly a dozen found with two heads worldwide since people started recording their findings. A two-headed shark is made when twin shark pups do not finish separating from each other. A creature like this would not survive long as the heads may kill each other as they fight to get the best food without realising that by killing its twin head, it kills itself. This simple growth problem occurs not only in sharks but in all types of creatures, humans included. This is the shark equivalent of siamese twins.

The two-headed embryo being weighed by a 'SHARKDEFENSE'* member

*SHARKDEFENSE is a shark protecting society in Florida.

The Bull Shark

The bull shark is, without a doubt, the most dangerous shark to humans. They are the most aggressive shark known to mankind as they have been known to kill a wading animal or human on sight, even if they won't eat the body afterwards, without provocation.
Despite the vicious, menacing atmosphere that surrounds this species, they are truly one of the most fascinating branches of the family of sharks. This comes down to being one of the only two sharks that can survive in rivers as well as the oceans and seas of the world. For a long time, it was known as the only shark which could survive in both of these completely different conditions until a fisherman in Australia caught a speartooth shark which, due to the fact they had been thought extinct for 108 years, was met with great fanfare. Most sharks explode if they enter a river due to the lack of salt in the water, yet the bull shark, and its talent-sharing Australian counterpart, do not. Scientists remain unable to figure out how they do this.
Bull sharks can grow up to 2.4 metres long and can weigh up to 98 kilograms. They spend most of their  lives at depths of about 30 metres below the surface when they are not in rivers. They live in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans and can venture up to 2,500 miles up the Amazon river and have also been found in the Mississippi, Ganges and Zambezi rivers but the distance between them and the ocean in the last three rivers mentioned has never been measured.

A bull shark stalking the river bed of the Amazon surrounded by baby bait fish which
are too small for it to eat.