There are many different sharks and some have evolved to live outside of water for a few minutes, but most large shark species, such as the great white or tiger shark can only survive minutes up to 11 hours outside of water before they die.
Generally, it’s thought that a shark needs water to maintain healthy bodily functions. Marine biologists have found that the hydrodynamics of sharks are so fine-tuned that they can’t live outside of water for long. Their bodies, whether or not they’re injured, would clot and their swimming muscles would stop working.
One study was done in 1981 (Klimley 1981) placed three juvenile lemon sharks in a concrete tank for up to 5 days without any water (no pool, no ocean). The sharks suffered from dehydration and soon died. A more recent study done in 2011 (Klimley 2010) placed sharks in the water that felt like the ocean for up to 3 days. After just 2 days, they all died.
Therefore, other factors come into play like temperature and oxygen levels as well as body size. If a shark is young or small, it may be able to survive out of water for longer than an adult or larger shark. However, the only thing we know for sure is that a shark can’t live out of water for very long without suffering death.
Can sharks live out of water?
The short answer: no. Many people don’t think sharks are capable of surviving in the ocean for more than a short period of time and often ask if they can survive out of water. The answer is that many species of shark cannot survive out of water for even a few minutes.
As humans, we have evolved to live in an environment with a very consistent temperature, oxygen level and food source. In the ocean, things like temperature and oxygen levels change frequently. The food supply changes as well, depending on what is available at the moment. Sharks have to be able to tolerate all these changes while also maintaining their vital functions.
If a shark isn’t kept in water long enough, it will die. There are some sharks that can survive out of water for longer, but few sharks can live out of water for more than a short time.
If a shark survives out of water for a few minutes to an hour, it will still die due to the effects of dehydration (using up body fluids). Keep in mind that many sharks can stay underwater for hours without any problems or even go through some torpor ( quiescence ) in which they act asleep and their heart rate is rapidly lowered.
Can Sharks breathe on land?
This is another question about sharks that is often asked. It’s important for people to know the answer because it could mean the difference between life and death. Some facts about the capabilities of sharks to breathe on land (land breathing):
1. Sharks can breathe on land but certainly, for not long, they prefer to use gills over lungs, which we do not have
2. If a shark mistakenly tries to breathe with lungs since they don’t have any, it will almost always die because air doesn’t go into the lungs properly and oxygen still enters the body through the blood and not through gills
3. So if a shark tries to breathe for too long, it will die unless it has very large lungs
4. Sharks cannot breathe on land unless it is for a very short time and unless they have at least one gill.
Why Can’t Sharks breathe Air?
Sharks can’t breathe air! That is because they don’t have lungs. They have a special thing called „gills” instead. When humans breathe air into our lungs, it gets mixed with the oxygen we need.
Sharks breathe the same way but they use gills. A shark’s gills are like the filter systems – there are many of them on both sides of its head. They contain tiny blood vessels that take oxygen out of the water and put it into the shark’s bloodstream. A shark’s gills are made up of millions of tiny out-pours that look for food underwater.
When it happens to smell something, the gill (out-pour) is pulled forward and gets ready. Then, the gill breaks out of the side of the shark’s head and draws a force through water, by way of tiny muscles.
The force pulls water in its mouth to be sucked in by the gill which is called ” buccal pumping .” The force pulls air out of the water, so then it looks like a triangle. When there is enough air inside (filter system), it pulls it through other channels and carries oxygen to blood and body tissues where all our organs work.
Do sharks need Air to breathe?
The answer is yes even though sharks don’t have lungs, they do have gills that extract oxygen from the water. These specialized organs are located inside their heads near the back of their throats and come in five different shapes:
Final Thoughts
sharks are water animals and need to constantly swim to move oxygenated water over their gills, which extract the oxygen from the water and allows them to breathe in this environment.
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
