They are almost the main reason people travel to the Maldives.
What is interesting about them, besides the adrenaline of an encounter?
1. Icicles instead of teeth
They have tiny but sharp teeth (up to 18 rows), but they rarely bite. Their mouth works like a vacuum cleaner: the shark sucks in prey with enormous force. If it bites, it won’t let go because the teeth are curved inward.
2. They love to nap
Most other sharks sink if they stop swimming, but nurse sharks can lie on the bottom and "doze" in caves and under corals.
3. Barbels like a catfish
They have two fleshy barbels near their nostrils that help them feel for shrimp, crabs, and octopuses in the dark. Cute, but don’t touch.
4. Viviparous, but not like humans
The pups develop in eggs inside the mother. Pregnancy lasts up to six months, and she gives birth to 20–30 babies at once, each about 30 cm long. The birth happens on schedule, at night.
5. They love company
They are often found in groups of up to 40 individuals.
6. They can "cough"
Sometimes they forcefully turn their stomach inside out through their mouth to spit out undigested food or parasites.
Important — the sharks asked to pass this on: "Divers are not our food, we won’t even try you. I am a bottom shark! I eat what’s on the bottom."
So diving with them is safe, as long as you follow the "strip club rule"
