Spectacular Shark Pictures

Spectacular Shark Pictures
Original source: http://ocean.si.edu/spectacular-shark-pictures
Sharks are one of nature’s most beautiful—and misunderstood—creatures. When most
people think of sharks, they think of unexpecting swimmers being attacked and eaten by
a nightmarish creature. But what they don’t know is that many sharks are more afraid of
us than we are of them. The sharks that come close are probably curious about why such
a long-finned animal—a person—that they’ve never seen before is splashing around in
their ocean. Wouldn’t you want to check it out too? Go ahead and check out these sharks
in this slideshow of some of the best photographs of these amazing animals.
Oceanic Whitetip Shark
The oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) is usually observed offshore in
deep, warm waters throughout the world. The common length is about 270 cm
(approximately 9 ft), but much larger oceanic whitetips have been recorded, one
measuring 396 cm (approximately 13 ft). This once abundant and widespread shark faces
serious population declines, due to fishing pressures. They are particularly sought after
for their large fins which are used in shark fin soup.
Credit: © Brian Skerry
Great White Shark at Surfact
Great white sharks are are marvels of evolution, with highly-evolved senses keeping
them among the ocean’s top predators. Their biggest (and, perhaps, only) threat is people.
Great whites are often portrayed as terrifying man-killers, which makes them a target for
sport fishing and trophy hunters, who don't understand that humans do far more damage
to sharks than sharks do to humans.
Credit: © Michael Rutzen
Face to Face with a Tiger Shark
What would you do if you came face to face with a shark? Brian Skerry lives for these
moments and is ready with his camera. Here he is seen photographing a large tiger shark
on the seafloor near the Bahamas.
Credit: © Mark Conlin
Blue Shark
Named for the radiant blue color on its
back and sides, the blue shark (Prionace
glauca) traverses the world’s temperate
and tropical seas. Known for traveling
great distances and being a swift
predator, blue sharks feed on squid,
bony fish, and marine mammal carrion .
However fast the blue shark may be, its
numbers are declining due to bycatch,
sport and commercial fisheries, and
illegal poaching.
Credit: © Brian Skerry
Grey Reef Shark
Gray reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) are known for being active at night.
They are considered Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List due to fishing and the loss of
their coral reef habitat. The sinister animal, with its sleek body, can be quite aggressive
when directly threatened.
Credit: Tobias Friedrich
The Cat-Like Eyes of a Catshark
Like other catsharks, the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) is named for the
elongated, cat-like shape of its eyes. But all sharks have cat-like eyes—in a different way.
Like cats, sharks have a layer of reflective cells behind their retina called the tapetum
lucidum. This layer allows them to see better in dark and cloudy waters, in the deep sea
or at night. (The small hole behind its eye is a spiracle, through which water passes to the
shark's gills to allow it to breathe.)
Credit: João Pedro Silva
Caribbean Reef Shark
Living in warm shallow waters often near coral reefs in the Western Atlantic, from
Florida to Brazil, the Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi) is the most abundant
shark in the Caribbean. It feeds mostly on bony fishes and rarely attacks humans. Despite
the shark's abundance in some regions, it has a high mortality rate from bycatch and is
sought by commercial fisheries for its fins and meat. It is illegal to catch Caribbean reef
sharks in U.S. waters.
Credit: © Brian Skerry
Shortfin Mako Shark
The shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) is found offshore in tropical and warm
temperate waters of all oceans, but has been known to travel to cooler waters at times. It
is very strong and the fastest known species of shark. These qualities make the shortfin
mako a prized catch among recreational fisherman. The mako is also sought by
commercial fisheries for the production of shark fin soup, leather, and oils, and is often
caught unintentionally as bycatch.
Credit: © Brian Skerry
The Cookie-Cutter Shark
I want snack, so give me cookie! The cookie cutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis) is as
fearless as they come! This small, 20-inch shark can take on giants like whales and larger
sharks, and have even been known to mistakenly try to bite submarines. Cookie cutter
sharks approach their victims from below, latch on with their suction cup style lips, bite
and then twist. A nice, round hole is left as a souvenir. As frightening as they seem, they
do not pose a threat to humans.
Credit: Jennifer Strotman / Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Shark Teeth Collection
An array of teeth from the sand tiger shark Carcharias taurus. The Smithsonian has the
largest collection of shark teeth in the world, with more than 90,000 fossil shark teeth.
Credit: © Robert Purdy
Young Lemon Shark Swims Through Mangroves
Female lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) leave their pups in shallow, coastal waters,
and they live in these reef and mangrove nurseries for up to four years. As adults, they
move to deeper waters of up to about 90 meters (295 feet) deep.
Credit: © Brian Skerry
Shark Denticles
Shark skin is covered by tiny flat V-shaped scales, called dermal denticles, that are more
like teeth than fish scales. These denticles decrease drag and turbulence, allowing the
shark to swim faster and more quietly.
Credit: © Trevor Sewell
Dwarf Lantern Shark
The smallest shark, a dwarf lantern shark (Etmopterus perryi) is smaller than a human
hand. It's rarely seen and little is known about it, having only been observed a few times
off the northern tip of South America. Like other lantern sharks, the dwarf lantern shark
has light-emitting organs called photophores along its belly and fins. These help them
camouflage when they feed in shallower water: the lit-up belly blends in with sunlight
streaming down from above. In darker water, the light attracts smaller animals, which the
shark preys upon.
Credit: © Chip Clark
Breaching Great White Shark on the Hunt
It's hard to imagine a 2000-pound animal launching itself out of the water while hunting,
but the great white shark does just that. This spectacular behavior is called breaching, and
great white sharks breach in order to catch fast-moving prey like seals. Swimming fast at
the surface, sharks can reach 40 miles per hour and fly 10 feet into the air; however,
breaching is relatively rare because the shark has to use so much energy to propel itself.
Credit: © Morne Hardenberg
Hammerhead Shark at Sunset
Scientists debate the purpose behind these sharks' hammer-shaped heads. A commonly
accepted theory is that the shape allows the shark to scan a wider area of the ocean
through its sensory organs. Of the eight species of hammerheads, the great hammerhead
shark (Sphyrna mokarran) is the largest, reaching a maximum length of 6.1m (20 ft).
Hammerheads are highly sought after for their fins, suffer a very high mortality rate from
bycatch, and reproduce only every two years.
Credit: © Brian Skerry
Baby Sharks in Lagoon
A shark nursery in a lagoon in the Pacific. Shark nurseries are found mainly in shallow
water regions in which the shark pups can grow up while being protected from larger
predators.
Credit: © Thomas Peschak
The Friendly Whale Shark
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth. They spend most of their
lives in the deep water up to 200 meters or more, but swim up to the surface to gather
food and warm their bodies. In Kwatisore—located in Cenderawasih Bay National Park,
Papua, Indonesia—they interact with bagans (fishing platforms on the water's surface),
which provide ikan puri (anchovy), a staple in their diet. Despite their size, they only eat
small fish and even tinier plankton.
Credit: Edy Setyawan