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Shark Week: Reef Island
Jaws 50 faces its toughest battle yet: Finding Love at Reef Island
It’s Shark Week, and even these mega-predators of the sea need love. Ever heard the saying, “There are plenty more fish in the sea”? Welcome to Love (Reef) Island, where five new jaw-dropping fintestants have entered the villa. Loving them can be tricky, but with sharp thinking (or teeth), these sharks are on the search for tenderness (from humans who don’t yet know their importance in the food chain).
They may not have backbones, but their two-chambered hearts will take your breath away (possibly because you need to come up for air). You may have found their teeth on the shore, so now it’s time to dive a little deeper (together, don’t be scared).
Hammerhead Shark
Love Language: Receiving Gifts | Personality Type: Conscientious
They say you gotta keep your eyes on the prize, and the hammerhead shark does just that. Fins of the show have asked, “Will anyone’s head turn when the hammerhead enters the villa?” Their eye placement, on each end of their very wide (and long) head, allows them to scan more area faster than any other shark (joke’s on them, because this fish doesn’t even need to turn its head to see you).
This shark’s name comes from the unusual shape of its head, an amazing piece of anatomy that has been adapted to maximize the fish’s ability to find its favorite meal: stingrays (can’t blame them for nailing down what they really want). They use their wide heads for hunting and can quickly spot prey and pin them to the sea floor, which is vital to their success in feeding.
Hammerheads are widely considered to be highly intelligent due to their unique sensory abilities and complex hunting strategies. They possess a large brain, including a significant cerebellum, and exhibit advanced sensory perception, including exceptional electroreception and vision (they may not read books, but they can certainly read your energy… choose your moves wisely).
Whale Shark
Love Language: Quality Time | Personality Type: Open-minded
If mysterious is your type, then look no further, whale sharks are unique in that they are covered with hundreds of white spots, and every individual has their own specific spot pattern (like freckles for humans).
In fact, whale shark researchers utilize specialized computer software, originally designed for star mapping, to identify individual whale sharks from photos utilizing their spot patterns (note: this doesn’t help identify their personality traits, so take it with a grain of salt…ocean jokes, amiright?).
While they are the largest fish in the world, reaching the size of a school bus, they only eat tiny plankton and fish eggs, consumed by filter feeding as they swim slowly with their massive mouths completely wide open. They are one of only three species of filter-feeding sharks in the world (so, if you’re looking for a conscious eater who chooses to snack all day rather than eat big meals, then you have found your match).
Great White Shark
Love Language: Physical Touch | Personality Type: Neurotic
Before you get the ick, understand the great white shark is more than meets the eye. They are born at the top of the food chain, growing up to 20 feet long, but to make it to adulthood, the pup must avoid other predators, while at its most vulnerable, including other great white sharks (did someone say trauma bond?).
If you like surprises, then you may have met your match. They utilize the element of surprise as they hunt, their electromagnetic sense to sense heart activity, and their strong sense of smell to find their prey in the ocean. These sharks don’t chew their food—they rip off chunks of meat, swallow them whole, and can then last almost two months without another big meal (so if you’re into sharp jawlines, then look no further).
Nurse Shark
Love Language: Acts of Service | Personality Type: Agreeable
If you consider yourself calm and nurturing, then the slow-moving bottom-dwelling nurse shark may be your type. An introverted delight, they are found in the warmer, shallower waters of the ocean, typically in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans. They can reach up to 14 feet and have extremely powerful jaws filled with thousands of tiny, serrated teeth (so if you’re looking for a killer smile, the ocean floor is yours).
They use their strong jaws to break down shellfish and sometimes coral, but prefer to regularly eat fish, shrimp, and squid (a pescatarian’s dream, if you will). They have distinctive tail fins that can be up to one-fourth of their total body length (this doesn’t mean they are smol, their tails are quite long and strong).
Unlike most sharks, they are very smooth to the touch (some would say their skincare routine is unmatched). Although abundant in numbers, due to their habit of being closer to shores, human activity is putting pressure on the species (introverts need space to live life swimmingly).
Bull Shark
Love Language: Words of Affirmation | Personality Type: Extraverted
“I’ve got a text!”…. That’s Bull shark. Don’t be salty, but all sharks must keep salt in their bodies to survive, and most can only live in saltwater oceans. However, bull sharks have developed special adaptations through their kidney function and special glands near their tails that help them keep salt in their bodies even when they’re swimming in freshwater (if they wanted to, they would).
Bull sharks have a (strangely) diverse diet, including dolphins, sea turtles, and even other sharks (it’s giving ‘growing up in a household where you finish your plate’). They live throughout the world, in shallow, warm ocean waters and have been known to even swim into freshwater rivers, especially those with brackish, semi-saline qualities (if you’re looking for a well-traveled partner, then you are in the right place).
Want to learn more about sharks? Check out some of our other fincredible blogs!
Written by Robert Watkins
