White Tip Reef Shark

Shark tickling with Willy and Wonka. Strange but true!

Willy and Wonka, a pair of Whitetip Reef Sharks, live in SEA LIFE Blackpool’s ocean tank. You can tell them apart because Willy has a straight dorsal fin, but Wonka’s is wonky! Whitetip Reef Sharks are nocturnal creatures so you’ll often see them sitting on the bed of the ocean tank during the day. However, when our divers enter the tank they like nothing more than to have their bellies tickled. For real! A shark having its belly tickled!

Willy and Wonka also like to squeeze into small spaces in the tanks. It’s got nothing to do with the fact that they are best buddies and hang out together all the time because it’s all part of their natural behaviour. They would do this whilst hunting for food in the wild.

A shark’s skeleton is made up of cartilage, like the bendy bit in your nose!
More humans are likely to die from an encounter with a toaster than with a shark.
A shark’s skin is made up of thousands of tiny teeth called dermal denticles. It makes their skin feel rough like sand paper.

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