Ricci week 8

                                                                             Glow in the dark sharks 

    Today I was reading an interesting article about the deep-sea shark. Now you may be wondering, what makes this shark so special? Well, it is one the world's largest glowing animals.

    Researchers who were working off the cost of New Zealand have discovered three species of bioluminescent sharks. The largest shark is a kitefin, which grows up to six feet, making it one of the largest bioluminescent vertebrates. 

However, sharks are not the only creatures in the ocean that light up. The much larger giant squid is also bioluminescent. Scientists have estimated that around three quarters of deep-sea creatures have this ability. Being bioluminescent can be very useful. It can be used as a type of camouflage in the deeper waters. Areas that do not get as much light, such as the twilight zone, are ideal for this. They can use counter-illumination, which is when the animal produces the amount of light necessary to match their surroundings. This is used when hiding from predators. 

 Jérôme Mallefet, the researcher who discovered these sharks, believes that about ten percent of the 540 shark species discovered are bioluminescent. However, this is just a guess, there could be many more that are unknown at this time. Mallfet hopes that more research will be done, since the shark's habitat is under threat. 

Overall, I found that this was a very worthwhile read. I learned about a type of shark that I didn’t even know existed. I also discovered that these sharks are at risk, due to losing their natural habitats. I had never heard of anything like this, until I read this article.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/