12 Shocking Facts About Sharks That Most People Don't Know

Peter Benchley, the author the book that inspired Jaws regrets having written the book because of the damage it's done to their reputations.

The remora fish will attach itself to a shark, travel with the shark and eat parasites that try to attack it. 

The whale shark is what's known as a "filter feeder." This means it strains the water for suspended materials and particles. 

An experience was performed where a seal-shaped object and square object were presented in front of a shark. It was more interested in the square because it had never seen something like that before. 

The Dwarf Lantern shark is the smallest shark known to man. You may not know about them because they're they're pretty reclusive and can live at depths up to 1,440 feet. 

The top two in the photo are now extinct, but Great Whites and Whale sharks are just two of hundreds of species of sharks you'll find in the ocean.

48 species of sharks are currently endangered due to overfishing and demand for fins. 

What you should really be worried about is hippos. They kill 2, 900 people a year. Sharks only kill about 10.

But you should be careful around them. 

400 species of shark have been identified and only 48 are considered dangerous to humans.

Sharks typically attack for two reasons. It's either out of curiosity or by mistake. They don't actually like the taste of humans and usually release once they realize what they've done. 

Since they exist at the top of the food chain, they help to keep other marine species populations in check.