{"id":13347,"date":"2020-06-11T11:34:08","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T15:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=13347"},"modified":"2020-07-02T10:53:31","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T14:53:31","slug":"sea-science","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/current-issue\/summer-2020\/sea-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea Science"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sharks don\u2019t have bones. Sharks use their gills to filter oxygen from the water. They are a special type of fish known \u201celasmobranch,\u201d which translates as \u201cfish made of cartilaginous tissues\u201d \u2014 the clear gristly stuff that your ears and nose tip are made of. This category of fish also includes rays, sawfish, and skates. Their cartilaginous skeletons are much lighter than true bone, and their large livers are full of low-density oils, helping them to be buoyant.<\/p>\n
Even though sharks don\u2019t have bones, they still can fossilize. As most sharks age, they deposit calcium salts in their skeletal cartilage to strengthen it. The dried jaws of a shark feel heavy and solid, much like bone. These same minerals allow most shark skeletal systems to fossilize quite nicely. The teeth have enamel, so they fossilize, too.<\/p>\n