SeaFocus - scuba diving reviews, images and information

Sharks

Images and videos of sharks taken around the world

Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Selachimorpha

Many sharks are now registered on the IUCN red list of critically endangered, endangered or threatened species.

The rest are listed as vulnerable. Very few shark species are listed as stable and none are listed as increasing.

Image gallery



Great White Shark, Guadalupe, Mexico	Whitetips, Roca Partida, Mexico	Hammerheads, the Galápagos	Whitetip reef shark, Lombok, Indonesia	Bronze whaler shark, Christmas Island	Leopard shark, Maldives

Whaleshark, Richelieu Rock	Great White Shark, Guadalupe, Mexico	Juvenile blacktip sharks, Borneo	Whitetip shark, Roca Partida, Mexico	Grey reef shark, Palau	Nurse shark, Burma Banks, Myanmar

Raja epaulette shark, Indonesia	Galápagos shark, Roca Partida	Whaleshark, Thailand	Wobbegong shark, West Papua	Grey reef shark, Palau

click on any picture to enlarge...

Images on this page
are available to order as prints.

Take a note of the name and number then click here...

Sitting right at the top of the marine food chain, sharks fall into the scientific superorder Selachimorpha. Beneath this, there are 14 or so 'orders' but a simpler way to describe their diversity is to state that there are 440 different species of shark in our oceans. These amazing animals vary from the deep sea dwarf lanternshark, which measures just 17 centimetres (7 in) long, to the majestic and placid whale shark (or whaleshark), Rhincodon typus, which can reach as much as 12 metres (39 ft).

Sharks are found in all seas and some will travel to depths of 2,000 metres, sometimes more. The Great White shark and the hammerhead sit at the very top of the apex predator chain while others, like basking sharks are completely harmless to man.

Conservation
While sharks are seen as the ultimate predators, their survival continues to be threatened by man and in particlular commercial fishing practices. It is estimated that 100 million sharks are killed every year in this way.

For more information on shark conservation projects, http://www.sharktrust.org/

Images of sharks taken around the world

Diving with whitetip reef sharks in the Socorro islands		Cage diving with Great White sharks at Mexico's Guadalupe island

Click > to play. Please be patient, the videos may take a few seconds to load.

Video taken with a Fuji Finepix F50