Our friend Jasmine is back with Ocean expert John Sparks to ask YOUR questions about the Ocean!
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>> Rachel: Welcome back. It’s time for Chompers, your morning and night toothbrushing show. Its Oceans week, and tonight Jasmine has more answers to YOUR questions for Dr John Sparks. Jasmine let’s go!
>> Jasmine: Thanks! start brushing on one side of the top of your mouth, and make sure to reach the molars in the way back.
>> Kids: 3, 2, 1, brush!
>> Jasmine: This question is from Milo in Stowe, Ohio and he asked are Megalodons real?
>> Dr. Sparks: Yes, Megalodons were real. They were enormous sharks.They're not real anymore. So they lived I believe anywhere from about two point six to twenty-three million years ago and they could reach I think about 60 feet. But they're not out there anymore. There are big sharks out there but none that big.
>> Jasmine: Switch to the other side of the top of your mouth and don’t brush too hard.
Ok Lily from Chirstchurch, New Zealand asked how shells are made.
>> Dr. Sparks: She’s probably referring to clams, snails, oysters, vs turtles shells. So we need calcium to build bones and shells and things like that. And there’s calcium in the water. And these animals have a way to take the calcium from the water and put in their shell.
>> Jasmine: And that calcium they take it little by little and they make it’s almost like building blocks?
>> Dr. Sparks: Yes. And they develop or were born with very tiny shell so they basically add to that.
>> Jasmine: Switch to the bottom of your mouth, and make sure you’re brushing, the inside, outside and chewing side of each tooth. So Harper and Quinn from Peachtree said they wanted to know how do creatures survive in the deep sea where it’s SO dark.
>> Dr. Sparks: The answer is these creatures can produce their own light which they signal to each other because this is an area of the ocean that's always dark the only source of light is light the animals produce themselves. And they have big eyes to survive in this part of the ocean that's always perpetually dark. For them it’s home they do really well there.
>> Jasmine: Switch your brushing to the other side of the bottom of your mouth, and keep brushing. This question this question is from Brooklyn in Bakersfield and she asked, “Are sea monsters real?”
>> Dr. Sparks: Things we can't explain seem like a sea monster. Some of the deep sea fish when people first saw them they said oh that's a sea monster. A lot of deep sea fish have enormous dagger-like teeth and huge mouse and they produce light. So they look like monsters.
>> Jasmine: They just kind of look like aliens because they live in a very different place than we do. OK that’s it for today. A big thank you to our Indian Johns of the Ocean, Dr John Sparks, and to Aubry Miller of the Natural History Mystery Museum. And don’t forget to…
>> KIDS: 3, 2, 1 spit!