The Megamouth Shark

  The megamouth shark is the most recently discovered shark. It was first found in 1976, when some fishermen hauled up their nets to find a dead creature in them!! It was 5.5m long and weighed 1215kg!!
That is a lot of shark!! The megamouth has a very cunning way of luring fish and krill into its mouth: it has luminous lips!! That may not sound amazing or helpful, but small sea creatures are attracted to light so they swim towards it and get eaten by the shark. If that doesn't amaze you I don't know what will.
As they are so rare, we know very little about these sharks. As of 2012, only 55 have been seen in a wide range as they have been found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

This is the most famous photo of a megamouth shark.
This was the first one ever o be seen by man.

Two Headed Bull Shark Found of Florida

On the 6th of March this year, a fisherman found a two-headed bull shark embryo of Florida Keys. The shark was one of roughly a dozen found with two heads worldwide since people started recording their findings. A two-headed shark is made when twin shark pups do not finish separating from each other. A creature like this would not survive long as the heads may kill each other as they fight to get the best food without realising that by killing its twin head, it kills itself. This simple growth problem occurs not only in sharks but in all types of creatures, humans included. This is the shark equivalent of siamese twins.

The two-headed embryo being weighed by a 'SHARKDEFENSE'* member

*SHARKDEFENSE is a shark protecting society in Florida.

The Bull Shark

The bull shark is, without a doubt, the most dangerous shark to humans. They are the most aggressive shark known to mankind as they have been known to kill a wading animal or human on sight, even if they won't eat the body afterwards, without provocation.
Despite the vicious, menacing atmosphere that surrounds this species, they are truly one of the most fascinating branches of the family of sharks. This comes down to being one of the only two sharks that can survive in rivers as well as the oceans and seas of the world. For a long time, it was known as the only shark which could survive in both of these completely different conditions until a fisherman in Australia caught a speartooth shark which, due to the fact they had been thought extinct for 108 years, was met with great fanfare. Most sharks explode if they enter a river due to the lack of salt in the water, yet the bull shark, and its talent-sharing Australian counterpart, do not. Scientists remain unable to figure out how they do this.
Bull sharks can grow up to 2.4 metres long and can weigh up to 98 kilograms. They spend most of their  lives at depths of about 30 metres below the surface when they are not in rivers. They live in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans and can venture up to 2,500 miles up the Amazon river and have also been found in the Mississippi, Ganges and Zambezi rivers but the distance between them and the ocean in the last three rivers mentioned has never been measured.

A bull shark stalking the river bed of the Amazon surrounded by baby bait fish which
are too small for it to eat.

The Oceanic Whitetip Shark

  The oceanic whitetip shark are aggressive, territorial open ocean sharks. They scavenge oceans all over the world for whale carcasses and stray sea mammals. Although not often seen by people, these sharks are often present at ocean accidents such as plane crashes and sinking ships. They were rumoured to be present during the sinking of the Titanic, scavenging for scraps of food.
  They can grow up to 4 meters long and have the longest petorcal fins of any shark. they tend to travel alone and will avoid other sharks.
  The diet of an oceanic whitetip varies over different periods of time, as they can never be sure when they will eat next, they will eat anything that they find whenever they find it.
  Oceanic whitetips are more often than not surrounded by pilot fish, who stay with it for protection. The shark can't eat them as they are small, therefore meaning that eating them gives them indigestion (never ever trust a shark like this people, babies or not, are classed in the big category!) Despite the fact that they don't attack humans unless they are starved or there has been a certain amount of provocation, they are curious, powerful and frankly dangerous sharks and are not to be taken lightly.

A oceanic whitetip shark drifting peacefully in the
Atlantic ocean accompanied by pilot fish.

Several Species of Shark are Nearing Extinction

Several species of open water sharks are on the verge of extinction as they continue to be caught and finned by illegal fishing. The fishing of certain sharks has been banned but illegal fisheries continue to kill them for their fins. The shortfin mako, silvertip, sand tiger, oceanic white tip, bigeye thresher, pelagic thresher, and porbeagle sharks are all in danger of disappearing of the face of the earth. Soupfin sharks, great white sharks and pacific sleeper sharks are so endangered that they could die out any day now. Meanwhile, blue sharks and tiger sharks are decreasing in numbers rapidly and may soon die out.There is but 1% of the original population of the porbeagle shark left since their discovery. The same is true for the smooth hammerhead, dusky and bull sharks.

  The world must now fight for the lives of the sharks WE have killed. WE killed them and now WE must save them. If one shark species dies out, it will be OUR fault. WE must stand together and fight for the shark's rights.

The Great White Shark

The great white shark. The white death. The white pointer. Jaws. The undisputed king of the seas since the mighty carchadon megladon (an extinct shark that grew up to 18m long). The great white has 3,000 teeth arranged in rows, if it loses one, another takes it's place. The shark itself can grow to lengths of 6m and can weigh 2,268 kg. They can live for up to 30 (human) years and have been around since the Miocene period. They feed on dolphins, seals, turtles, large fish, dead whales and other sharks.
  This is what gave the great white shark it's terrible reputation and what caused it to strike fear into the hearts of any person from diver to doctor, from surfer to businessman. Yet this supposed man-killer is not what it is said to be. In fact, this 'cold blooded killer' has killed less humans than humans have killed great white sharks. We humans have less to fear from it than it has to fear from us.
  The reason we fear this fascinating creature is mainly down to one film. Jaws. It featured a single great white shark terrorizing a seaside town, biting boats in half and killing swimmers. True, sometimes a great white shark will attack a human but only if it has been provoked by that person. Or if it was pregnant and the person came too close for comfort. But mainly it is a mistake. Sharks, great whites particularly have bad eyesight and to them, a swimmer or surfer looks quite like a dolphin or a seal and it will launch an attack. Normally if it realizes it's mistake it will let go and swim away.

A surfer's silhouette from beneath.

A seal's silhouette from beneath.

  See the similarities? For a great white shark, it is exactly the same.
  Great white sharks are clever and curious, if they see bait on a line, they will cruise around it until they think it is safe to eat it they have electrical sensors that guide them to food, and other objects such as diving cages. They will open their mouths, bare their teeth, lift up the skin above their top jaw and lunge forward. All that takes about a second.
  In some amazing cases, great white sharks will allow themselves to be petted by humans. Valerie Taylor managed to get a great white shark to poke it's head out of the water, eat a dead fish calmly and let her pat it's nose before telling it to swim away (which it did). What a miracle. But in that moment, the world was shown that great white sharks weren't monsters, but, intelligent, fascinating and misunderstood creatures just waiting to be learnt about.

A great white shark drifting peacefully in the Pacific Ocean. 

The Wobbegong Shark

 The wobbegong shark is very hard to see because of it's amazing camouflage. It is found in coral reefs, where it lies on the sandy rocks in wait for it's pray. There are two more common types of wobbegong shark (others such as the brown-spotted and japanese wobbegongs aren't mentioned); the tasseled wobbegong and the ornate wobbegong. The tasseled wobbegong is named for the tassels that protrude from it's head. They look like seaweed, which encourages fish to swim near it and become the shark's dinner. It's back is dark orange and brown making it blend into the seafloor perfectly. Because it is a flat shark, it doesn't have to swim to stay alive and can lie in wait for days. The word 'wobbegong' comes from the Aborigine word meaning hairy beard. It is found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. It has been around since the Jurassic period (For those of you who have never looked inside a history book before, that means they lived with dinosaurs such as styracosauras and T-rex(Though if you don't read history books, you won't know what they are anyway!!)) talk about oldies!! The ornate wobbegong is paler than the tasseled wobbegong and is larger. They have been known to attack humans on sight. Normally, they would have to be provoked to attack but anyone who enters the water with a pregnant female ornate wobbegong and comes out alive can only be very lucky.
  Wobbegong sharks are often found living in harmony with lobsters. The two speicies work together for food and protection. The wobbegong lays itself down on the seafloor while the lobster walks on top of it. Big fish swim towards the motionless lobster in hope of an easy meal. The lobster moves of the wobbegong which then eats the fish, sharing some with the lobster. This is a miracle of nature, a perfectly adapted partnership between hunter and helper.


  A film of a wobbegong shark by Frank Lame of the coast of Australia (Other details
in film) showing it's teeth, swimming style and camouflage. Please note that the 
spelling of 'wobbegong' is incorrect at the start.