WATERY WEDNESDAYS #1

WATERY WEDNESDAY

It’s Wednesday and we’re calling it watery! No it’s not rainy outside, but the animals featured on Wednesday live in our oceans, lakes, rivers and streams. There’s no telling what animal will pop up on this day because water habitats have so many different animals. You might meet a tropical fish or an eel or even a sea cucumber (don’t worry they’re not the ones you eat)!  Today’s animal is a shark! Yep a shark! So we thought you might want to know a little bit about sharks before we introduce you to this special animal.  What’s so special about sharks? Well let’s see…

These are some of the characteristics that make a shark a shark:

• Sharks are fish.
• Sharks don’t have a bony skeleton like mammals and reptiles and other kinds of fish. They have a skeleton made of cartilage (the tissue that makes up your nose and ears).
• Most sharks are cold-blooded (ectothermic). They cannot control their own body temperature; it is regulated by the animal’s environment.  Great Whites are considered warm-blooded.
• Sharks are covered in special scales called dermal denticals. They are hard tooth like structures. They are very rough and feel like sandpaper.
• Sharks have gill slits- usually 5-7 that they use to breath. They pump water over their gills to get oxygen from the water

Do you have a favorite shark?

Ellie and Edmond have a favorite shark and it’s today’s animal….so here’s our first Watery Wednesday!

MEET THE SPOTTED WOBBEGONG!

Habitat/Range: South Asian Seas off Australia, Japan and China/ coastal rocky outcrops and coral reefs

Diet: Carnivore: small fish and invertebrates such as crabs, lobsters and octopus

Size: 6ft-10ft

Conservation Status: Near Threatened

Fun facts:

• They are considered a type of carpet shark because they lay on the ocean floor or in small rocky outcrops.
• They have brown, yellowish and green coloration with O-shaped spots that are perfect camouflage.
• They lie on the ocean floor or in dark rocky outcrops and ambush their prey.
• They have a large flat head and bodies to help them blend in with the ocean floor.
• They have barbals on their head and face that they sometimes use to attract prey.
• Wobbegongs are masters of camouflage and ambush! And we think they’re kind of cute!     Is it just us?