Zebra Shark

True Wild Life | Zebra Shark | The zebra shark is a medium-sized species of shark, that is found in the warmer coastal waters and around tropical coral reefs. Zebra sharks are most commonly found in the Indian and South Pacific oceans. Zebra sharks can grow to nearly 3 meters in length and can get to be 30 years old in the wild. Zebra sharks that are kept in captivity generally do not exceed 15 years of age. Zebra sharks can be identified by the yellow spots that are present on the back of the zebra shark.

Zebra sharks have a long, flattened body which helps them to remain unnoticed on the seabed. The zebra shark also has a long tail which allows it to be more agile in the water. Zebra sharks move their tails from side to side when they swim, in an eel-like manner.

Zebra sharks are omnivorous animals but tend to have a more meat-based diet. Zebra sharks feed on small fish, crabs, shrimp, snails and other small invertebrates along with squid and sea snakes which they forage for in the coral reefs.

Due to their relatively large size, zebra sharks have few natural predators as they are fairly dominant predators in their environment. Larger species of shark such as tiger sharks and bull sharks are the main predators of the zebra shark, along with humans who hunt them for their meat and fins. The female zebra shark lays an average of ten large eggs which hatch after an incubation period of around 5 months. The baby zebra sharks are nearly half a meter long when they first hatch.

Whale Shark

True Wild Life | Whale Shark | The whale shark is the largest species of fish with some adult whale sharks growing to nearly 50ft long! The whale shark is thought to have developed around 60 million years ago making the whale shark one of the oldest species on Earth today. The whale shark spends it's life swimming through the open oceans in search of fish and squid. Unlike many other species of shark, the whale shark is known to feed on large shoals of tiny fish rather than hunting bigger fish and sea mammals. This makes the whale shark a filter feeder similar to whales and smaller sea animals.

The whale shark inhabits the warm, tropical waters around the equator and despite often being found close to coastlines, the whale shark is also known to dive to depths of up to 700 meters (that over 2,000ft deep). In this part of the ocean, food is more scarce and the whale shark will therefore only venture to such depths if hunting in the shallower waters is not possible. The whale shark is the perfect example of a so-called friendly shark and to date have posed no significant threat to humans (mainly divers). The whale shark is most commonly spotted around the Gulf of Mexico and the Indonesian Islands where the whale sharks have been known to be almost playful towards humans.

Female whale sharks incubate their eggs inside them rather than outside. This means that whale sharks effectively give birth to live young. Inside the female whale shark are hundreds of eggs but only a few actually turn into baby whale sharks. The remaining eggs are thought to be there so that when the whale shark pups hatch, they have something to eat. The female whale shark gives birth to an average litter of 12 whale shark pups that are around 60 cm long.

Whale sharks grow quickly during their first few years and soon the whale shark pups are extremely big and therefore less likely to be hunted by marine predators such as other shark species and killer whales. Whale sharks tend to live for around 60 to 80 years but have been known be more than 100 years old.

Tiger Shark

True Wild Life | Tiger Shark | The tiger shark is the fourth biggest shark in the world and is found in warmer and tropical waters in the Southern Hemisphere. The tiger shark tends to be found in more coastal waters but tigers sharks are also known to go into the deeper ocean if they need to hunt for food. The tiger shark is a fierce predator and tiger sharks hunt everything in the water including fish, seals, birds, turtles and even other sharks. The tiger shark gets it's name from the black stripes it has when it is young. Most tiger sharks lose these stripes as they get older.

Like most other species of shark, tiger sharks have sensors on the sides of their heads which enable them to detect small muscle movements from nearby creatures. The tiger shark also has a wedge-shaped head which allows the shark to turn quickly when it needs to. Tiger sharks can reach a top speed of around 20mph which is pretty fast in the water! Tiger sharks are extremely aggressive animals are thought to be one of the most dangerous sharks for humans to come into contact with. Tiger sharks are solitary hunters and usually do most of their hunting at night when the tiger shark can move through the water unseen.

Female tiger sharks mate every three years or so and the time of year when this happens depends on where the tiger shark lives. Tiger sharks in the Northern Hemisphere mate from March to May, where tiger sharks in the Southern Hemisphere mate from November to January. The eggs hatch inside the female tiger shark and can remain inside her for up to 16 months. When they are big enough, the female tiger shark gives birth to between 10 and 80 baby tiger sharks.

Tiger sharks usually range from between 3 to 5 metres in length. Although much larger specimens have been seen, the largest a tiger shark tends to get is around 5.5 metres long.

Spiny Dogfish

True Wild Life | Spiny Dogfish | The spiny dogfish is one of the most abundant species of shark in the world is also commonly known as the piked dogfish, the codshark and the thorndog. The spiny dogfish is the most well-known of the dogfish species and is also thought to be the most well-researched shark species in the world. The spiny dogfish is found worldwide across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The spiny dogfish tends to be be found in the warmer coastal waters although it is not uncommon to spot spiny dogfish hunting in the freezing sub-Antarctic waters.

The spiny dogfish is a small-sized shark with a grey coloured body that has a light underside and little white spots on the back of the spiny dogfish. The spiny dogfish also has large eyes and a short snout and unlike many other species of shark, the spiny dogfish does has have an anal fin. The most distinctive feature of the spiny dogfish are the two spikes found on the back of the spiny dogfish, one spike in front of each dorsal fin. The spikes on the back of the spiny dogfish are mildly poisonous and are mainly used in defence.

The spiny dogfish is a carnivorous animal and therefore survives on a purely meat-based diet. Fish, squid and crustaceans are the most common meals for the spiny dogfish, but the spiny dogfish is also known to hunt octopus and even other sharks. Due to its relatively large size, aggressive nature and poisonous spikes, the only real predators of the spiny dogfish are larger sharks, humans and the occasional killer whale.

As with some other species of shark, the spiny dogfish does not lays its eggs in the water to hatch, but the spiny dogfish fry instead hatch inside their mother and then emerge into the open ocean. After a gestation period that can last up to 2 years (the longest of any other vertebrate), the female spiny dogfish will produce a little of between 2 and 15 spiny dogfish pups.

Horn Shark

 

True Wild Life | Horn Shark | The horn shark is a small species of shark, natively found in the coastal waters of north-west North America. The horn shark is named for the broad, flattened head and high ridge found behind this shark's large eyes that is almost horn-like in appearance and makes this shark one of the hardiest of all shark species. The horn shark is endemic to the Pacific north-east, and is only found in the warmer waters off the coast of California. The horn shark is most commonly found along the temperate to sub-tropical continental shelves where it spends most of it's time in search of hard-shelled marine organisms to eat off the sea-bed.

The horn shark is a small species of shark that typically measures about 1 meter in length. The horn shark can be most easily recognized by a short, blunt head with ridges over its eyes and two high dorsal fins with large venomous spines. The horn shark is usually a brown or grey colour with many small dark spots across it's body. The horn shark is a clumsy swimmer that prefers to use its flexible, muscular pectoral fins to push itself along the bottom of the ocean rather than swimming through it. The horn shark is usually solitary, though small groups have been recorded (particularly during the mating season). During the day, horn sharks rest motionless, hidden inside caves or crevices, or within thick mats of algae, though they remain relatively alert and will swim away quickly if disturbed. After dusk, they roam actively above the reef in search of food.

Horn sharks are carnivorous predators and although they do eat fish and marine invertebrates on the ocean floor, around 95% of the horn shark's diet is made up of hard-shelled molluscs and crustaceans which they horn shark uses its short, hardened head to break them apart before eating the fleshy insides. Horn sharks also feed on echinoderms such as sea urchins and star fish. Despite being quite complex predators themselves, the relatively small size of the horn shark means that they are by no means at the top of the food chain within their natural environment. Large species of fish prey on the horn shark along with other sharks that share their native range. Humans are also one of the horn shark biggest threat as although they are not really hunted, horn sharks are often caught as by-catch when we are fishing for other things.

Horn sharks tend to mate in between December and January with the female laying her eggs 4 to 5 months later. Female horn sharks can lay up to 24 eggs over a period of 2 weeks, which float in the ocean in a spiralled casing. The female horn shark is one of the only shark species to display pre-natal care, as she collects her eggs in her mouth before depositing them into the safety of crevices in the rocks. The horn shark pups usually hatch within a month.

Today, as so little is known about the horn shark population off the Californian coast, they have been listed as being Data Deficient as their is not enough information about their status in the wild. Like many other species however, the horn shark populations are being threatened both by water pollution and commercial fishing in the area.

Hammerhead Shark

True Wild Life | Hammerhead Shark | Hammerhead Sharks are appropriately named after their flat shaped heads. Hammerhead sharks are large carnivorous fish that prey on large fish and occasionally hammerhead sharks will hunt small water mammals. Hammerhead sharks are found in the warmer waters of oceans worldwide but hammerhead sharks are particularly found in coastal waters, and along continental shelves. The shallow waters that the hammerhead sharks inhabit allow the hammerhead shark to hunt prey more easily.

There are 9 different species of hammerhead shark worldwide, ranging from 3ft to 20ft in length! Hammerhead sharks are not commonly known to attack humans but can be aggressive if a human came into contact with a hammerhead shark. The flat shaped head of the hammerhead shark is thought to allow the hammerhead shark to detect prey more easily, as it increases the hammerhead sharks sensitivity to sonar activity. Hammerhead sharks are thought to use sonar waves detection in a similar way to their five main senses, so its like the hammerhead shark has a sixth sense.

The shape of the head of the hammerhead shark is made up of two projections on either side of the face of the hammerhead shark, which gives the hammerhead shark the head shape that resembles a hammer almost rectangular in shape. The eyes and nostrils of the hammerhead shark are found at the ends of the hammer allowing the hammerhead shark to have better vision and smell of the surrounding water. Like many other species of shark the hammerhead shark is a solitary hunter during the night, but during the daytime hammerhead sharks are known to form schools of up to 100 hammerhead shark individuals. Hammerhead sharks are commonly seen in larger groups during the summer months when the hammerhead sharks are migrating together in search of cooler waters.

The great hammerhead shark is the largest species of hammerhead shark and one of the few species of hammerhead shark that is potentially dangerous to humans. This is due to the sheer size of the giant hammerhead shark and also because the giant hammerhead is known to have an aggressive temperament. Other species of hammerhead shark tend to pose little or no threat to humans as these species of hammerhead shark are generally much smaller than the giant hammerhead shark and are slightly calmer in their nature.

Grey Reef Shark

True Wild Life | Grey Reef Shark | The grey reef shark is one of the most common species of shark found in the warm waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Grey reef sharks are generally found in the coastal regions and along continental shelves from the Middle East to the islands in the deep Pacific. Grey reef sharks are one of the smaller species of shark with adults reaching a maximum length of around 2m long and baby grey reef sharks being around 50cm long at birth.

Grey reef sharks feed on reef fish, squid and shrimp. The grey reef shark is not thought to pose a great threat to humans and the grey reef shark has been noted to be inquisitive towards divers. Other species of reef shark include the white tipped reef shark, the black tipped reef shark and the Caribbean reef shark, all of which belong to the same family so have similar characteristics to the grey reef shark. The grey reef shark has a very distinctive shark-like appearance which includes the long slender body of the grey reef shark, large fins and a rounded snout. The grey reef shark tends to gather together in schools with other grey reef sharks during the day, but the grey reef shark is generally more active at night.

The grey reef shark tends to move about slowly gliding silently through the water at speeds that often do not exceed a few miles an hour and the grey reef sharks are commonly known to lay on the ocean floor for long periods of time. However, when the grey reef shark detects food in the water, the grey reef shark is known to suddenly become very active and quick, with the grey reef shark often becoming fairly aggressive if there is food about.

The grey reef shark has very few natural predators in its coastal, underwater habitat as many larger water-bound carnivores tend to lurk in the deeper waters. When the grey reef shark feels under threat, particularly from larger species of shark or from humans diving, the grey reef shark tends to react in a very distinctive way with the grey reef shark arching its body up and moving its head slowly from side to side whilst the grey reef shark is swimming along. The grey reef shark is thought to do this to intimidate unwanted company rather than in preparation to attack it.

Great White Shark

True Wild Life | Great White Shark | Great white sharks (white shark) are found in coastal waters in every major ocean but the great white shark is most commonly sighted around Australia, South Africa, California and Mexico. The great white shark can grow to more than 8m long and weigh well over 2,000kg. This makes the great white shark the worlds largest predatory fish! The great white shark has been known to attack humans in the water, this is often because the shark mistakes the human for another animal which it normally hunts since sharks do not like the taste of humans.

The great white shark hunts large fish, seal, porpoise, dolphin and whale, with the great white shark using an ambush technique to surprise their prey in order to secure their catch. The great white shark is found in waters from just 1 m deep to 1,200 m deep. The great white shark has approximately 300 teeth which are arranged in a number of rows along both the great white sharks top and bottom jaws.

Due to the dominance and aggressiveness of the great white shark, the great white shark has no natural predators within the natural environment of the great white shark. The great white has shark has been known to fight with similar sized killer whales (orca) but this is a rare occurrence, and the great white shark has also been known to have been killed by large pods of dolphins that ram the great white shark.

The greatest predatory threat to the great white shark is the human being, many of whom kill the great white shark for both defensive reasons and for the meat of this apex predator. It is because of the threat to the great white shark from humans that has led to the population numbers of the great white shark decreasing making the great white shark a threatened species today.

Bull Shark

True Wild Life | Bull Shark | Bull sharks are mainly found in the warmer and shallower coastal waters of the southern hemisphere. The bull shark is one of the most common species of shark found worldwide. The bull shark is able to inhabit both salt and freshwater sources just as happily, with one bull shark known to have swum 4,000 km up the Amazon River in South America, finally ending up in the mountainous Peru.

The bull shark is well known for its unpredictable and aggressive temperament and is thought to be one of the most dangerous sharks towards humans. This is probably because the bull inhabits coastal waters and rivers and is therefore more likely to come into contact with swimmers and water sports enthusiasts.

The bull shark is an effective and dominant predator in its environment and so has no real natural predator itself. Bull sharks are occasionally hunted by the bigger shark species such as the tiger shark and the infamous great white shark.

Basking Shark

True Wild Life | Basking Shark | The basking shark is the second largest species of shark (and fish) in the world behind the enormous whale shark. Basking sharks are also commonly known as the sunfish, the elephant shark and the big mouth shark. The basking shark is found inhabiting temperate coastal waters around the world, with the exception of the Indian Ocean. The basking shark is one of only three plankton-feeding shark species and is the largest fish in British waters.

Basking sharks are most well known for their enormous mouths which balloon out in order to take in as much water into it as possible, and are able to process over 1,500 gallons at a time. As filter-feeders, the basking shark's mouth contains hundreds of tiny teeth which are used to filter food particles out of the water. Basking sharks are generally solitary animals found hunting alone, although basking sharks are also commonly seen in schools of up to 100 basking shark individuals usually during seasonal migrations. Basking sharks are also known to spend most of their time closer to the surface of the water where they can be easily spotted as they munch their way through the ocean.

As with other large fish and shark species, the basking shark is a carnivorous animal meaning that it only gets it's nutrients by eating other animals. Plankton is the primary source of food for the basking shark along with other small organisms such as fish, squid and crustaceans. As the second largest shark species in the world, the basking shark has few natural predators. Apart from hunting by humans, the great white shark and the killer whale are the only real threat to the basking shark, mainly due to the fact that basking sharks are slow and generally sluggish swimmers.

Basking sharks reach sexual maturity (can begin breeding) when they are about three years old. Basking sharks are known to mate during the warmer summer months, and their pups (the largest of all shark pups) are born live after up to 3 years of development. Basking shark pups are known to become independent immediately, swimming away from their mother just after birth. Due to over hunting and rising levels of pollution, the world's basking shark populations have severely declined meaning that today, the basking shark is considered to be an animal that is under threat from extinction.

Nurse Shark

 

\True Wild Life | Nurse Shark | The nurse shark is most commonly found in the waters around central America, although natural habitat of the nurse shark ranges from the North USA to Brazil and nurse sharks are even found on the East Coast of Africa. The nurse shark is also found around the Caribbean Islands and from southern California to Peru on the American west coast. The nurse shark is a common coastal bottom-dwelling shark, found in tropical and subtropical waters around the continental shelves. The nurse shark is frequently found at depths of one meter or less but it is not uncommon for nurse sharks to venture down to depths of 12 m.

 

Nurse sharks commonly habitat reefs, channels between mangrove islands and sand flats, where food is in abundance. The nurse shark preys on fish, shrimp, sea urchins, the occasional octopus and stingrays, and as with many other species of shark, the fast reactions and stealthy approach of the nurse shark mean that the nurse shark is easily able to have a meal. Nurse sharks are nocturnal animals and are generally inactive during the day. It is in these hours of daylight that nurse sharks can be found together in groups of up to 40 nurse shark individuals. Despite this, the nurse shark is a solitary hunter and will spend the dark nights hunting alone. Nurse sharks appear to have resting spots that they return to daily rather than just resting anywhere. These preferred resting spots of the nurse shark tend to be in crevices in rocks and reefs.

The nurse shark mating season is in early summer. Female nurse sharks will retain their eggs inside them until they hatch and are fully developed, before a live birth then occurs. The nurse shark gestation period is approximately 6 months, when the female nurse shark will give birth to between 28 and 25 nurse sharks babies, known as pups. Nurse sharks are generally known to be one of the more sluggish and docile sharks of the different species of shark. It is because of this that nurse sharks have been hunted for their tough, leathery skin and for their meat. Nurse sharks do not appear to pose any great threat to humans although a number of unprovoked attacks have been recorded.

Nurse sharks tend to live to around 25 years of age by which time the nurse shark is often over 4 m in length. When the baby nurse sharks are born, they tend to be around 30 cm long and are already fully developed. The darker skin of the baby nurse sharks tends to fade quickly as they age.