Clark the Shark

What are you doing in here? Guard! Who let these visitors in?! ... What’s that? ... Invited guests? Who invited them? ... The king? I’m the king and I didn’t invite them! ... Oh, THE King. I apologize, kids, I didn’t know HE had invited you here. I’m Clark the Great White Shark. I am the king of the ocean. There is a reason I’m king of the ocean. My relatives and I can weigh up to five thousand pounds and be sixteen feet long. Yes, I know the blue whale is bigger than I am, but he still reports to me! For one thing, I look tougher than he does, particularly with my big teeth. And he has to go to the surface to breathe. I don’t. I breathe through these slits on my side here, called gills. Cooler water is much more comfortable for me. Hot water has less oxygen in it and makes it harder for me to breathe. You’ll find me or my relatives in cool water habitats all over the world, including off both sides of the United States, Japan, the Mediterranean, South America, and South Africa. Usually we stay in the epipelagic zone of the ocean, but sometimes we’ll go really deep looking for food. I think one of my relatives got as deep as 3,900 feet. What’s epipelagic? Oh, that’s where the sunlight still penetrates the water.

We great white sharks have an organ we use to hunt called the ampullae of Lorenzini. With it, we can sense the electricity produced by the muscles of animals as they swim. Even if they stop swimming, we can find them because these organs are so sensitive, we can detect heartbeats! So don’t try to hide from us; we will find you.

You know kids, I might be scary and king of the sea, but I don’t have ultimate authority or power. That belongs to the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t make my kingdom, or even any of my subjects. He did. Because he made everything, he is worthy of all honor, glory, and praise. We ought to be honoring Him, singing his praises, and praying to him every day. He is truly an amazing Creator God! He’s made so many wonderful things for us to enjoy!

Great White Shark Classification

Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Lamnidae
Genus: Carcharodon
Species: carcharias
Lifespan: 70 years