SWEET AND SOUR
Love is not in the air, it’s in the water! Well, at least for sharks off the coast of Jupiter, Florida it is. Each year in the winter months, hundreds of Lemon sharks convene at this location, and scientists hypothesize that they do so to mate. Although very little is known about their adult life, female Lemon sharks are believed to initiate these mass sub-aqua gatherings. Shark expert Sam Gruber suspects the animals are releasing pheromones into a current to attract potential mates that pickup the scent. The result, an underwater traffic jam of Lemon sharks, is both unnerving and exciting!

FIN FIGHT
With their muscular bodies, keen senses and high level of intelligence, sharks are at the top of the marine food chain. But their numbers are declining. Sharks are slow to reproduce, and human activities, such as over-fishing, have drastically reduced shark populations. Nevertheless, the cruel practice of shark finning is on the rise. Here, fishermen remove the highly valued fins and at times, toss the rest of the shark back into the water. Injured and unable to swim properly, these animals are left to die. The fins are then sold in Asian markets to make a popular Cantonese delicacy, shark fin soup. Wildlife conservationists and others have criticized this controversial practice for its cruel methods, wastefulness, and adverse impacts on shark populations. Experts believe a majority of the animals used in this process are finned while still alive. Some argue many are caught before they are able to produce the next generation.

TOOTHY SHORES
Dare to get up close and personal to razor-sharp shark teeth! Each spring tourists from around the world visit the small seaside town of Venice, Florida, for its annual Shark Tooth Festival. The area’s sandy white beaches and warm gulf waters are a hotbed for these fossilized remains, some of which are millions of years old. A shark can shed and replace thousands of teeth over its lifetime, leaving tiny clues of an underwater existence. However, some finds aren’t so small. Evidence of the fearsome 40-foot prehistoric shark called Carcharodon megalodon or “Meg” are prized findings for shark-tooth enthusiasts. Meg teeth can be are as large as an adult human hand. With so many fossils from a variety of different sharks, Venice is known as the “Shark Tooth Capital of the World.”

Resources for this article have been provided by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, the University of Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Division and Wikipedia.