Shark Awareness Day: Exploring the Myths and Realities Surrounding Sharks

History
Facts about Sharks
Importance
Timeline
Statistics that Matter
How to Celebrate Shark Awareness Day?
Domestication and Care
Shark Day Dates
FAQs

Shark awareness day is a knowledgeable occasion to spread the message across the world that how much sharks are important in our lives or what kind of challenges they are currently facing due to our activities. This special event is celebrated on every 14th of July for the well-being of sharks. The best way to celebrate this day is to hug a Great white! Shocked? Sharks are not as dangerous as we consider them so you can really hug them.

History

According to the fossil records, sharks are the oldest species on our planet around 420 million years ago. The sharks that we see today have 100 million years history (when dinosaurs existed). A day to save these predators of ocean (shark awareness day) started originally in the U. S., which spread across the world afterwards.

Facts about Sharks

Sharks have multiple rows of teeth and they lose and replace thousands of teeth
Sharks have electroreception ability to detect the electrical fields
Sharks have different reproductive strategies; oviparous, viviparous, and internal incubation
Sharks do not have bones as their skeleton is made up of cartilage
Shark skin is like sandpaper, made up of tiny teeth-like structures (placoid scales)

Importance

A day for sharks is celebrated to both dispel all the fear, stigma, and misinformation, which surrounds all the sharks every time. This day raises awareness among the people to protect and care these incredible creatures. In order to appreciate their role in the management of our marine system, this day teaches us to take action in their defense.

Timeline

420 million Years Back

Existence of Sharks

The very first evidence of existence of sharks was found in the Devonian period, also known as the “Age of Fishes”.

16th Century

Sea Dogs

Sharks being skilled hunters in the sea, got the title “sea dogs”. This title was just used in the world of fishing.

1957

Use of Nets on Beaches

To protect themselves from sharks, Australian public started to use web on the beaches to catch them.

21st Century

Decline in Shark Population

Due to human activities like overfishing, finning and bycatch, around 100 million sharks were killed every year.

Statistics that Matter

Shortfin mako shark is the fastest swimmer with speeds up to 74 km/h
Sharks have notable lifespans e.g. the Greenland shark lifespan is 400 years
There are about 500 species of shark from which 143 are under threat
Largest shark ever was a whale shark, 41.5 feet in size
Smallest shark in the world is dwarf lantern shark being just 6 inches
Just 10 out of 500 species of sharks were involve in incidents with humans
Sharks lose around 30,000 teeth in their life
Gestation period of sharks is very long ranging about 4 years

How to Celebrate Shark Awareness Day?

Educate, Act, Conserve

Raise your voice to boycott the shark products as mostly sharks are hunted for the purpose of their meat, skin, or fins. Educate others to stop the use of fin soups or those products which are made out of shark leather.

Dive into Discovery

Find out some knowledgeable data about sharks from internet or other source. Educate your children about the life and threats to sharks and encourage them to stop every that activity which can harm sharks. On a related note, got the scoop on mako shark!

Donate to Save Sharks

One of the easiest way to contribute in the celebration of this event is to donate some funds to some reliable organization, which works for the welfare of sharks. Such organizations need your help to save the sharks.

Domestication and Care

Domestication of sharks is very unethical and in fact, illegal activity. Sharks are already threatened due to the uneven activities of humans like overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change. So, it is not recommended to domesticate them. They have specific diet and habitat needs, which cannot be provided in captivity.

Shark Day Dates

Year	Date	Day
2024	July 14	Sunday
2025	July 14	Monday
2026	July 14	Tuesday
2027	July 14	Wednesday
2028	July 14	Friday

FAQs

There are many shark-related holidays and events which we celebrate to raise awareness about sharks. For instance,

Shark Week: In July or August
World Oceans Day: 8 June
Shark Awareness Day: 14 July
International Shark Awareness Month: Month of July
Shark Conservation Day: July 14

Yes, it’s true but just for some specific species of sharks. For example, the skin of whale sharks is 6 inches thick so it can be very difficult that a bullet penetrates into their skin.

No, sharks are not mammals, in fact they are from a group of fish (cartilaginous fish). Unlike mammals, neither they give birth to live babies, nor do they nurse their newbies with milk.