The Longfin Mako Shark

Almost as rare as the megamouth, the longfin mako shark is found in the deep sea, near to six hundred metres below the surface, in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Sadly, they do not tend to stray as far as Britain. Despite being very rarely seen and one of the most little known about sharks still in existence, they are nonetheless truly fascinating creatur
  There have been no recorded attacks on humans by longfins, as they hardly ever mix with the creatures of the Sunlight Zone. Their diet consists of small fish, diamond squid and deep sea jellyfish, this mix of food leaves them smaller than other sharks, but a sustainable meal in the Twilight Zone and Dark Zone where they live is very hard to come by. However, this lack of food may just give them the edge over the sharks of the Sunlight Zone when it comes to hunting. Their senses are sharpened by hunger and when they have to find their food, they rarely fail.
  So we have covered the prey of the longfin, but now we turn to the predators. With the absence of killer whales and omnivorous, cannibalistic sharks such as tigers, great whites and bulls, the longfin mako shark has only two predators: deep sea fishermen and the majestic and mysterious giant squid, terroriser of the deep sea and ruler of the dark water. They kill with silence and without mercy. As with most of the creatures from the Dark Zone, they are not fussy and eats whatever it finds. Longfins are no exception. Their powerful petorcal fins (which give them their name) and sharp teeth are no match for the giant squid's tentacles, suckers, unimaginable strength and sheer size. As was mentioned above, deep sea creatures are not fussy. This makes them easy prey for fishermen who only have to drop their lines baited with rich, Sunlight Zone fish such as tuna and chum for many unsuspecting, malnourished fish (and evidently sharks) to come knocking.

Silvertip Shark

  The silvertip shark is a magestic and sometimes scary member of the shark family. Commonly found in Northern Australia, Eastern Africa and Madagascar, the Carribean and Central American coasts, Saudi Arabia and China, it can be very territoreial and will fight to the death to keep other sharks and large, imposing sea creatures away from its territory. When it comes to hunting, however, the silvertip will not eat fish that are in its territory, but will venture from the coral reefs where they live into the open ocean which supplies them with larger, more substantial food. Silvertips are opertunistic and will take fish from fishing lines or drag them out of deep sea trawler nets by their tails.
  Although fatal shark attacks are rare, a silvertip mother will attack a human visciously if she feels they are threatening her litter, which will stay in their mother's territory until they are half-a-year old, or herself. If a human approaches a lone silvertip too quickly, the shark will become stressed and may attack. As of 2008, four provoked, and none unprovoked, silvertip attacks on humans have been confirmed-none of which were fatal-each was registered by the International Shark Attack File.
  A silvertip shark can be recognised by its distinctive silver dorsal fin tip. It is important for divers to register this when diving near one of these sharks-all but one of the attacks mentioned above were caused by the diver approaching a small silvertip under the impression it was a sluggish, harmless whitetip reef shark- the tail tips also have the silver markings.

A silvertip shark, warily guarding its territory from
competitors.

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.