The term “shark” itself is the source of several questions that pop into your head. Many people are not sure if some statements are based on facts about sharks or simply some common shark tales. Which is why the main question that is usually on people’s mind is: “Are these facts or shark tales?”

Let’s find out about common shark tales that are surrounding some popular shark tales. For example, one shark tale is saying that all sharks must swim to breath and stay alive. In fact, while this statement is partly true as most shark species do need to keep swimming to be able to breathe and avoid drowning. Some species such as lemon, nurse and bull sharks can rest at the bottom of the ocean and keep breathing by opening and closing their mouth and filter the water through their gills.

Another one of the shark tales is the statement that all sharks are potentially harmful to humans. In fact, of the 350 shark species, 80 percent of them are either incapable of harming humans or unlikely to ever being in contact with them.

A third one of these shark tales is the statement that all sharks eat anything. In fact while some species will eat just about anything like in the case of the tiger shark which will even eat license plates, canned goods and even shoes, most shark species will in fact prefer to eat fish, mollusks and crustaceans.

The fourth statement that is part of the shark tales is the one stating that the larger the shark, the larger the prey. The fact is that the two largest sharks are in fact consuming the smallest prey which is plankton. These sharks are known as the basking shark and the whale shark.

Some people also believe one of the shark tales being that sharks need to bite their prey sideways. The fact is that a shark can attack its prey from any angle. Since their unique jaws can even protrude beyond their snout, sharks can catch a prey that is in front of them.

A common statement made amongst shark tales is the one saying that sharks eat each other in the womb. Well, in the case of the sand tigers, one shark in each oviduct will feed on its weaker siblings until birth but it is not the case in most shark species.

Amongst shark tales, you also find the belief that sharks only have five senses like us to find a prey which are: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. In fact, sharks can also use two other ways to detect a prey. They can feel their electric field as well as the vibrations linked to their movements.

While several merchants are selling shark cartilage pills and the belief that they can prevent and cure cancer, these beliefs are considered shark tales as there is no proof as of now that these pills have these properties. These affirmations are mainly based on the fact that no sharks so far have been showing signs of cancerous tumors but nonetheless, it is not a proof that they are immune to cancer.

It is the common belief that a shark’s eyesight is very poor. In fact, it is quite the opposite as the lenses in their eyes are 7 times more powerful than the human eye. Some species can even see a light 10 times dimmer than the dimmest light perceived by the average human eye.

Finally, the last one of the shark tales that I will share with you is the one stating that if you must fend off a shark, punch it in the snout as hard as possible. Well, the experts actually advise you against such action. While this technique proved to be lucky for a few, it will mostly make the shark more aggressive. It is highly recommended to use a stick or a tool instead of your hands and poke the shark in the eyes or in the gills.