Happy Finn Friday everyone! As someone working in healthcare during a global pandemic, I get to see first hand the amazing, heartbreaking, exhausting work our nurses put in every day to take care of patients (along with respiratory therapists, pharmacists/pharmacy technicians, doctors, nurse aids, environmental services, dietary, social services, receptionists, screeners, and the list goes on. If you know anyone working in healthcare right now, give them a nice socially distanced hug or send them a Starbucks gift card or something. We are all struggling and putting in so much work to help keep everyone safe and healthy.) In honor of these amazing creatures that are sacrificing so much for everyone during these difficult times we are going through, today we are going to learn all about nurse sharks!
Where do they live?
Nurse sharks love to hang out in the warm, shallow waters of the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans.
How long do they live?
They typically live to be around 25 years old in an aquarium setting. We aren’t really sure how long they live on average in the wild.
What do they eat?
Something really cool about Nurse sharks is that they have these special little barbels on the bottoms of their noses that help them sense prey along the seafloor, like a catfish! They love
to munch on crustaceans, fish, rays, and even coral on occasion. They are suction feeders, so they tend to swallow their food whole. Nurse sharks can produce enough suction power to suck a conch right out of its shell, or other prey out of little holes and crevices around the coral reef!
What do they like to do?
Nurse sharks are nocturnal, so at night they will come closer to the shore/surface to feed and explore. During the day, they return to their favorite little cave or rock crevice to nap. They have been spotted in groups of up to 40 individuals all piled on top of each other in a cuddle puddle just snoozing away. Nurse sharks are able to breathe using buccal pumping, so they don’t have to keep moving around to breathe.
Now, because Nurse sharks are extremely abundant throughout their range, they are often encountered by snorkelers and scuba divers. Because they are so still, many divers make the mistake of petting them or tugging on a fin here and there. While Nurse sharks are generally pretty docile, they have been known to strike out at and bite divers in self defense when they are startled awake by the petting or tugging. Like I always say, when you see ANY animal out in the wild, it is best to just leave them alone!
Conservation Status:
The IUCN Red List doesn’t have a ranking listed for Nurse sharks due to insufficient data. Their populations seem to be pretty stable, but we can’t know for sure without additional data and monitoring.
Thank you so much for learning with me today! What was your favorite thing you learned about Nurse sharks today? I think it is really cool that they can produce so much suction power! Now, don’t forget to go thank any and every healthcare worker you know. I know even a simple text letting them know you appreciate the work they are doing right now will mean so much to them. I’ll see you all back here Monday for more science fun!
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