Baby Shark Food

What has rows of sharp pearly whites?!

This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying… BABY SHARK!

Mighty Jaws sits on top of the oceanic food throne. Where adult white sharks munch on marine mammals, like dolphins, found near the water’s surface. But when you’re a baby shark — think under TEN feet long — what do YOU eat?

Meet Richard Grainger and colleagues from the University of Sydney. They set out to solve this fishy riddle. The team collected forty young white shark bodies accidentally caught in nets. Then they inspected the shark’s last meal… by looking at leftovers in their stomachs!

And? A favorite fish dish was Australian salmon. BUT, to their surprise, almost a third of baby shark’s diet was BOTTOM-dwelling fish! Critters living around the ocean floor like stingrays and flatfish were on the kiddie menu.

So maybe don’t look for a baby shark fin at the water’s surface — think deeper. The researchers hope a better understanding of shark eating habits could help decrease human-shark contact.

Hungry? I’ve heard the catch of the day is FIN-tastic!