The exhibit is designed as a mobile exhibit and can easily be adapted to different room layouts.
It is regularly updated and expanded.
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Tour of the Exhibit "Sharks – the Hunted Hunters"
The Shark Foundation's Shark Exhibit titled "Sharks – The Hunted Hunters" consists of individual sections which are described below and shown in the order in which they appear in the Exhibit.
Each section consists of 1 to 2 panels and display cases, depicting a specific theme that is briefly summarized below.
1. Prejudices vs Facts
Are sharks really the predatory beasts of the oceans? No! Quite the contrary! They are an important regulatory species that ensures the survival of the oceans and thus the very survival of mankind.
70.8 % of the earth's surface is covered by water. Most of the over 500 known shark species live in the biologically highly productive continental shelf areas. But sharks are also found in the deep sea, the high seas and even in freshwater.
Photo @ Alexa Elliot
3. Paleontology / Evolution
Are sharks fish? Sharks are often described as fish, although they are only remotely related to the real or bony fish. The evolutionary lines of cartilage and bony fish separated about 400 million years ago.
Photo @ Shark Foundation
4. Morphology
Sharks differ – though all of them have gill slits.
Sharks have adapted themselves perfectly to their lives as top predators.
How they live and what they eat can be deduced from their body form and teeth. The 5 to 7 gill slits are their most accurate identifying features.
Photo @ Shark Foundation
5. Anatomy
Just like their outer form, shark organs are perfectly adapted to life in the sea and to hunting. Special areas of their circulatory system allow some of them to maintain their body temperature way above the environmental temperature, much like birds and mammals.
Photo @ Shark Foundation
6. The shark's 7 senses
Sharks have seven senses. Excellent senses are mandatory for predators in order for them to locate their remote or hidden prey. Sharks have better eyesight in the dark than cats, they can locate certain scents 10,000 times better than people. They locate their prey by means of their electrical fields.
Photo @ Shark Foundation
7. Reproduction
Sharks have complex reproduction strategies.
Most sharks bear live young, the remaining ones lay eggs. They all have one thing in common: their reproduction rate is very low and, with some exceptions, they have few offspring. These biological facts strongly endanger their populations.
Not all sharks are alike and so their behavior also differs. Their hunting strategy, hunching, their social interactions and the habit of e.g. hammerhead sharks to form swarms have all been relatively well researched.
Photo @ Klaus Jost
9. Sharks and Humans
News on shark accidents race at internet speed around the globe, even if they involve nothing more than scratches.
The fact is: Shark accidents are extremely rare, be it in water sports or swimming. On a long-term average only about 70 such accidents occur per year, including only about 11 deaths.
Photo @ Shark Foundation
10. Humans and Sharks
Each year about 100 million sharks are either slaughtered – more often than not in the most brutal manner – or they wind up as bycatch.
Due to their low reproduction rates they can no longer compensate for the immense losses that they suffer on all fronts.
Shark skin is made of tiny toothlike projections called dermal denticles or placoid scales. They are of the same origin as bony fish scales.
Samples to touch: Shark Skin, Speedo Swimsuit, 3M Aircraft Foil, Emery Cloth
Photo @ Hai-Stiftung
12. Shark Preservation Projects
This panel summarizes the most interesting current shark protection projects funded by the Shark Foundation.
Photo @ Matt Potensky
Support the Shark Foundation in its work to protect sharks.
