Bruce Museum opens science exhibition about sharks

Few creatures inspire so much fascination – and fear – as sharks. However, sharks are far from the mindless killing machines that they are commonly portrayed to be. Worldwide, biologists have identified about 470 species of sharks, a cartilaginous fish in the class of Elasmobranchii. Some live peaceful lives skimming plankton from the water with specialized gill rakers. Others have robust social lives and remember their favored companions year after year. A few turn the phrase “cold-blooded killer” on its head even more thoroughly and actually have warm blood pumping through their veins. On view at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, a new exhibition, Sharks!, poses this question: How much of what is commonly “known” about sharks is fact, and how much is fiction?