Year 5 Shark class were joined by a guest speaker this week. Jack Wylson is the Co-Founder of The Big Sky production company in London. Jack recently produced a documentary film for National Geographic called 'Shark Queens'. As part of this, Jack filmed Tiger sharks underwater in The Maldives.
In the Q & A session, Jack answered some of the pupils' fascinating questions about sharks, such as:
Q: What should you do if a shark attacks you?
A: Look it in the eye and hit it on the nose. Sharks are surprise predators so will only attack from below or from behind. If you are scuba diving with sharks, be a good team and circle the sharks, rather than letting them get behind you.
Q: Why do sharks bite humans sometimes?
A: They only bite humans once because they think the human is a seal. Humans wearing black wetsuits can look a lot like seals. When sharks bite a human by accident, they will usually realise and stop because humans taste bad to them.
Q: Why do sharks go crazy for the smell of blood?
A: This is a bit of a myth and there is little evidence for this. Sharks cannot taste or smell blood from far away but they associate it with the sort of prey they like to eat in the water (e.g. tuna) so it can make them excited because they like to eat!
Q: Who would win out of a battle between a female Great White shark and a male Great White shark?
A: Probably a female because they have thicker skin and they tend to be bigger than male Great Whites.
Q: What are the fastest sharks?
A: The Mako shark.
Q: What are the oldest sharks alive today?
A: Greenland sharks live to a very old age and their habitat is very deep water, where they are less vulnerable to predators.
If you would like to watch 'Shark Queens', it is available to stream on Disney + in Thailand.
