My Three Favorite Sharks

Today you are going to learn about my three favorite sharks. These are very different and interesting sharks.  They are the Tiger Shark, Thresher Shark and the Blue Shark.   

                                

TIGER SHARK

The first shark I am going to talk about is the Tiger Shark and believe me when I say that it looks nothing like a tiger.  It may have some markings but I would not have called it a Tiger Shark.  So you are probably waiting to see what the Tiger Shark looks like.

These are Tiger Sharks.

  Now this is a tiger.  Do they look alike? 

The Tiger Shark is responsible for more attacks on humans than any other species including the terrible Great White Shark.  The Tiger Shark is a hunter.  The Tiger Shark can be found in tropical and subtropical oceans. They live both inshore and in the open sea.  This shark also has a nickname.  It is called the garbage-can shark, because it is known to eat anything it can swallow.  This is a very greedy shark.  Tiger Sharks have very sharp teeth and very powerful jaws.  It will attack and eat turtles, other sharks, lobsters and even old oil drums.  Tiger Sharks have a striped pattern when they are young but it fades away as they grow.  The Tiger Shark's teeth can go through bone and shell. The Tiger Shark gives birth to live young.  Tiger Sharks can grow up to 25 feet in length and weigh more than 1,900 pounds.

Check out how big it opens its mouth!

  

   This is the Tiger Shark's jaw bone.

So you probably have a vision of how aggressive this shark captures its prey. 

Check out this video of a Tiger Shark!

THRESHER SHARK

My second favorite shark is the Thresher Shark.  A Thresher Shark's tail is almost as long as the rest of its body.  The lower part of the tail is small but the upper part is large with a pointed tip.  This is a super powerful long tail which is very dangerous.  They thrash their tails from side to side to round up and wound their prey.  They will even use their tails to hit low flying birds out of the air.  I know that you can't wait to see what that tails look like.  The tail reminds me of a boomerang.  The Thresher Shark is a very good swimmer and can leap clear out of the water.

The Thresher Shark with its long tail.         The Thresher Shark is leaping out of the water.

The Thresher Shark has a short snout and large eyes.  They have small jaws with curved sharp teeth. They come in colors from brown to black with white markings underneath. They can grow up to 20 feet long.  The Thresher Shark eats herring, mackerel and squid. You can find them in coastal waters in warm and temperate areas of the world.  Thresher Sharks give birth up to four live young at one time.  The eggs are hatched inside the mother.  They produce more young but some of its young will eat others while inside their mother's body.  These sharks will eat their own family members.  You would call this cannibalism. 

 
From the front this Thresher Shark looks like a plane that is about to land.

Check out this Thresher Shark feeding.  Look at how it rounds up its prey. 

BLUE SHARK

Now on to my last favorite shark.  This blue fish is one of the most popular sharks in the world.  It is even more popular as a dish.  My mother loves eating fried Blue Shark and I have even tried it myself.  Let me say that I have eaten a lot of better dishes than fried Blue Shark.  There is something about eating shark meat that does not seem right to me.   

This is a Blue Shark.                     Do you want this plate of fried Blue Shark? 

Blue Sharks are easily recognized because of its color, which is blue.  They have very large pectoral fins and are long and skinny looking.  They can grow up to 13 feet long.  They also have sharp triangular shaped teeth.  They feed both inshore and in the open ocean.  They eat many types of fish like herring, cod, haddock, pollock, mackerel, butterfish, tuna and swordfish.   The Blue Shark gives birth to live pups. The litters are about 25 to 50 pups.  The Blue Shark can be found in temperate waters and tropical waters.  They live in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans in both inshore and offshore waters.

 Check out this baby Blue Shark being hand feed.

 

 I hope you enjoyed my post and learned a lot.  Until next time.  Adios!!!!