Eye, eye! Get to know sharks at this eye-opening exhibition. Courtesy Royal Cornwall Museum.

Just the name of this exhibition conjures images of desperate swimmers amidst a tightening circle of menacing dorsal fins. Ever since Spielberg’s 1975 hit Jaws scared beach goers the world over, sharks have been typecast as the bloodthirsty villain.

Is the reputation fair though, and who are the real victims in all this?

Shark! - the new exhibition at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro - aims to answer these questions and more. The exhibition is open until September 10 2005 and is being run in conjunction with a special activity centre.

Visitors can learn the truth about sharks and why we should be doing more to protect them.

“Sharks are such beautiful and amazing creatures, but they get a really bad press,” said Leah Mynett, marketing officer at the museum. “We are trying to get people in to discover the truth about them.”

They look pretty scary, but they're not all bad. Courtesy Royal Cornwall Museum.

The exhibition details all the various sizes and type of shark, explaining how different shapes live in different habitats. Visitors even get a chance to design their own shark, but bettering over a 100 million years of evolution can prove tricky!

Indeed, sharks have developed quite an array of sophisticated machinery over the years. Their nose for blood is well known, although visitors may be surprised to learn that two thirds of a shark’s brain is devoted to the sense of smell alone.

Other super senses include an ability to detect even a 0.0000001-volt electrical charge in the water around them. Their hyper sensitive electrical sensors are used to detect and capture prey.

A fearsome creature indeed, especially when we learn that sharks go through thousands of teeth in a lifetime, continually replacing row upon row.

When we look at the facts though, sharks have a much greater reason to fear us than the other way round.

They might frighten us, but in actual fact we pose a danger to them. Courtesy Royal Cornwall Museum.

The trade in shark products is examined in the exhibition and the scale and impact of it may come as a shock. Over three million fins are shipped through Hong Kong every year and, with such intense fishing, many sharks are under serious threat.

Sharks have been fished for various purposes over the years. Their skin, know as shagreen was used as sandpaper, and originally for sword handles, as it didn’t get slippery when covered in blood!

There are a range of family activities running alongside the exhibition, with drama workshops, shark art and gallery talks. “It is aimed at being family friendly, but I would hope to see all types of people coming in,” said Leah.

Shark! is a great chance to find out the truth behind the Hollywood image and discover just why we should all be doing more to save these amazing animals.

Rory Trust is the 24 Hour Museum Renaissance Student Writer in the South West. Renaissance is the groundbreaking initiative to transform England's regional museums, led by MLA, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.