Sharks have been giving us nightmares and severe anxiety about going into the ocean since JAWS came out. Sharks were painted as monsters then, and few remained in the shark’s defense. However, shark attacks are incredibly rare, with most sharks doing everything they can to avoid you. Humans aren’t kind to sharks, so we can’t blame them for wanting to prevent us. Each year, sharks bite people, but a fatality is incredibly rare, except in Australia.
Where is Port Jackson?
The area of Port Jackson, Australia, also known as the Sydney Harbor, isn’t unlike any other port city. This port is the inlet to the Tasmanian Sea and is fed by the Parramatta River, Middle Harbor, North Harbor, and Lane Cove. It covers roughly 20 square miles and is 30 feet deep at the minimum and 155 deep at its maximum. The port city was the first European settlers reached and is significant to its history. At that time, the Eora clans called the area home, including Gadigal, Cammeraygal, and Wangal.
Captain James Cook was the first foreign ship to find the Sydney Harbor in 1770. He named it Port Jackson after Sir George Jackson, one of the Lord’s Commissioners of the British Admiralty and Judge Advocate of the Fleet. It wasn’t until 18 years later that the first European settlement ship would arrive. On January 26, 1788, Governor Auther Phillip established the first colony on the continent that would later be known as the capital city of Sydney.
What is a Port Jackson Shark?
Port Jackson sharks (Heterodontus portusjacksoni) aren’t huge scary beasts with massive teeth; they are smallish, striped, and adorable. No, you cannot have this type of shark as a pet. The Port Jackson shark is a migratory visitor, stopping by the port each year in the summer and then swimming back to northern Australia in the winter to breed. Their habitat is from southern Queensland, south to Tasmania, and west to the central coast of Western Australia. These strange-looking sharks are part of the bullhead shark family (not bull sharks) of Heterodontidae.
Port Jackson Sharks’ Good Looks Are Practical for Survival
Port Jackson sharks can grow to be 5.5 feet long but are typically closer to 3.5 feet long. They have hoods over the tops of their eyes, large dorsal fins, and a sable-colored saddle pattern along their upperside, while the rest is brownish-gray. They enjoy spending time in the shallow coastal waters all the way down to 900 feet below.
The little shark’s territory is typically on the seafloor, and if they are an adult, there’s a good chance they have a familiar shark or sharks to hang out with every day during the daytime when they sleep. Juveniles, on the other hand, are not social and have never been seen in groups for sleep. Like their distant cousin, the nurse shark, these are social sharks that can often be found sleeping in a pile of other same-species sharks during the daytime.
Port Jackson Shark’s Defense
The Port Jackson shark may not be gigantic or deadly, but it does pack a defensive punch. Along its two dorsal fins are venomous spines. It has a small mouth with nostrils on either side. Though its front teeth are sharp, the teeth in the back are flat for crushing the shells of mollusks. In 2011, a man was bitten by a Port Jackson shark and swam back to shore with it attached by the mouth to his calf. The bite did not even break the skin.
Port Jackson Shark’s Diet
One neat fact about the Port Jackson sharks is their ability to breathe and eat simultaneously. They can suck sand and water into their mouths and then blow the sand out their gills while consuming the treats found within it. Not having to constantly swim, forcing water into their mouths and out their gills allows them to rest on the seabed for long periods of time, which is not something many sharks can do.
The close relatives of the Port Jackson shark are the zebra-horned shark and the crested-horned shark, which also visit the same areas as the Port Jackson sharks. Like other small sand-hunting sharks, the Port Jackson shark feeds on hard-shelled mollusks, crustaceans, sea urchins, and small fish. Unfortunately, these small, mild-mannered sharks sometimes become the meal of larger sharks.
Port Jackson Shark Breeding
The Port Jackson shark is not endangered or even threatened. It thrives in the harbor, with many bodies of water adding to the ecosystem there. In the case of breeding, Port Jackson sharks mate in the late winter and early spring yearly in the safety of caves and under ledges. The female shark lays spiral-shaped egg cases that are around seven inches long and three inches wide. They are sometimes seen washed up on shore.
The mother Port Jackson shark deposits the eggs with her mouth while they are soft and pliable. She tucks them neatly beneath rocks, in crevices, and in other out-of-the-way spots to help them make it to their birthday. Once placed, the egg cases harden and wait out the next 10 – 12 months before they hatch. For the Port Jackson sharks, maturity happens for females around 11 – 14, while the males only take 8 – 10 years to mature.
Gentle Sharks
Australia is known for its shark-populated waters, attacks, surfing, and conservation. The Port Jackson shark is just one of many that call Australia home. They are far more peaceful than some of the New South Wales sharks but not nearly as large. Still, they are sharks, which can certainly alarm an unsuspecting scuba diver. But these gentle giants aren’t there for us; they just enjoy the area like anyone else.
