What’s the fastest shark? Why is sunlight important to them? Ocean food chain song

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• published: 09 Sep 2015
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Shark party! This hilarious video about a tuna-obsessed mako shark is going to knock your swim fins off. One part science mockumentary and one part head-banging kindie anthem, you’ll be chanting, “TUNA! TUNA!” for days. This video for Lucas Miller’s hit, “I’m a Mako Shark,” provides a fast-paced science lesson in the complexities of ocean food chains, from the importance of sunlight to phytoplankton right on up to the shortfin mako sharks’ need for speed. Enlisting the help of fellow children’s musician Joe McDermott, who plays a hilarious Jacques Cousteau-style narrator, this video features amazing microphotography of both phytoplankton and zooplankton, a lot of laughs and an amazingly catchy tune. It’s the perfect way to introduce this fundamental marine biology concept in your elementary classroom or your own kids at home. There’s a bit of debate over just how fast a shortfin mako can swim--it turns out to be really pretty hard to get an accurate speed reading on toothy ocean predators. Some say it’s 30 mph, others 60 mph, but all agree that they’re plenty fast to catch their preferred prey the speedy, pelagic (open ocean) tuna. Like cheetahs and gazelles, the makos and tuna have myriad adaptations to move as swiftly as possible through the open ocean. Lunate (moon-shaped) tails provide maximum thrust (if not maneuverability) and streamlined bodies help them rocket the waves like torpedoes. Internally, there are many physiological adaptations as well such as special muscle fibers and at least partial endothermy (warm-bloodedness) for makos and many tuna. Unfortunately, makos are prized by some for shark fin soup and are being overfished. Please do what you can to respect sharks and defend their place in the ocean. They’re critical to healthy oceans. In terrestrial environments, the biomass tends to be by mostly plants (that’s why there’s a lot more grass than rabbits and a lot more rabbits than foxes). Recent research has shown that coral reefs and some other ocean ecosystems can actually be the opposite--the biomass can be concentrated in the top predators like sharks. This is, in part, because ocean herbivores (zooplankton, primarily) eat the WHOLE organism, rather than just part, and phytoplankton reproduce incredibly quickly. This video has been in development for about two years and basically all Lucas’ videos have been training ground to help him learn to film, animate and edit a knockout video for this song. It literally took hundreds of hours to complete the job so, please, share it with your friends, leave a comment, subscribe and click the ol’ thumbs up! This song was actually written at the request of some fine folks with Texas Parks and Wildlife who were working on some online, educational materials for kids back around 2006 or so. The song was released originally on Lucas’ multi- award winning CD “I Love Earth” in 2010 and this tune quickly emerged as one of his most requested songs. It’s available on Spotify, iTunes and pretty much wherever else you can buy music. Show your support for Lucas’ work by purchasing the CD directly from him at http://singingzoologist.com/product/i-love-earth/ To learn more about Joe McDermott and his amazing music and videos, visit www.joemcdermottmusic.com and www.youtube.com/user/brickonyourfoot. If you don’t know him already, give him a listen; he’s absolutely brilliant. Lyrics I’m a mako shark (Chomp! Chomp!) And I’m up at the top of the food chain (Chomp!) There’s a whole lotta stuff I eat But not a lot of stuff eats me I’m a mako shark I went out this morning looking for something to eat I was swimming around the ocean looking for some seafood treats A whole school o’ tuna came swimming along So I opened my mouth and I sang this song: Chorus I’m the cheetah of the ocean, I’ve got the speed to chase them down At 45 miles per hour they got no chance when I’m around! Like a twelve-foot torpedo, swimming through the seas 1000 pounds of muscle, rows and rows of sharp teeth Chorus I see one tuna, two tuna, three tuna, four Five tuna, six tuna, seven tuna more Eight tuna, nine tuna, ten tuna, twelve What happened to eleven? I ate it myself! Chorus I eat a tuna fish and the tuna fish eat a bunch of smaller fish The smaller fish eat the tiny fish, each a link in the chain of food Follow it back and you’re gonna find, way back at the start of the line Phytoplankton and the other plant guys are getting it started with just sunlight Chorus Music copyright 2010 by John Lucas Miller