Shark Week is Back: What You Didn't Know About the Incredible Animal

August is here and with it one of America's great summer traditions: Shark Week.

Put on by the Discovery Channel, this year's marathon of shark-related material features shows such as "I Escaped Jaws," "Shark After Dark" and "Sharkpocalypse."

And while each may differ in their stories and specific subjects, there is one thing all of them have in common: bringing people into a more intimate setting with the powerful and often mysterious creatures.

The following are a few facts and discoveries -- some of them made only within this last year -- regarding sharks.

•  In March, researchers from the University of Tasmania discovered great white sharks consume up to four times as much as scientists previously estimated, chowing down on some 66 pounds of mammal blubber every 15 days in order to survive.
•  Shark attacks reached a decade high in 2012 in the United States, although worldwide numbers remained average. Leading the pack was Hawaii, which reported a total of 10 attacks.
•  As many as 73 million sharks are harvested every year, the majority for their fins that are then sold to help (literally) feed the demand for shark fin soup, a popular cuisine in Southeast Asian countries, according to the World Wildlife Foundation.
•  As of 2010, more than 180 species of shark were listed either on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List or the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), up from just 15 in 1996.
•  Contrary to popular belief, sharks are picky eaters who often determine after a single bite that something is not for them.
•  Sharks have up to 5 rows of teeth that are replaced as they wear out. All told, a shark can lose up to 30,000 teeth during its lifetime.
•  Most oceanic sharks have to keep swimming forwards in order to force seawater through their open mouths and over their gills so as to breathe. Should they stop, they would suffocate.