Are Sharks Immune to Cancer?
The story of “Sharks Don’t Get Cancer” — and an update into the question itself
Sharks are some scary, ancient creatures. They’ve existed in some form on Earth for more than 450 million years. This means that they existed more than a hundred million years before the dinosaurs first rose up — and unlike those large lizards, they’re still swimming around in the oceans.
Something about these creatures, their aura of a merciless predator, has catapulted them into the public spotlight. From Jaws to Sharknado, we’re fascinated with the idea of them as predators — and this has led to other questions, theories, and myths around them.
Do sharks need to swim constantly, or else they die? It depends, as some can circulate water, while others need to move to breathe. The biggest challenge is that, without a swim bladder, they’ll sink when they stop swimming.
Can sharks detect a single drop of blood in the ocean? Exaggeration — they can smell blood at a concentration of as low as 1 part per million, but that’s more like “a single drop of blood in a swimming pool.” Still impressive.
Sharks eat people, man! Rarely — in the United States, there are about 1,000 drowning deaths for every shark attack (note: attack, not fatality!).
