Killer Whale

Killer Whale (Orca) Profile

Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world's most powerful predators. They feast on marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales, employing teeth that can be four inches (ten centimeters) long. They are known to grab seals right off the ice. They also eat fish, squid, and seabirds.

Though they often frequent cold, coastal waters, orcas can be found from the polar regions to the Equator.

Killer whales hunt in deadly pods, family groups of up to 40 individuals. There appear to be both resident and transient pod populations of killer whales. These different groups may prey on different animals and use different techniques to catch them. Resident pods tend to prefer fish, while transient pods target marine mammals. All pods use effective, cooperative hunting techniques that some liken to the behavior of wolf packs.

Whales make a wide variety of communicative sounds, and each pod has distinctive noises that its members will recognize even at a distance. They use echolocation to communicate and hunt, making sounds that travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back, revealing their location, size, and shape.

Killer whales are protective of their young, and other adolescent females often assist the mother in caring for them. Mothers give birth every three to ten years, after a 17-month pregnancy.

Orcas are immediately recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white coloring and are the intelligent, trainable stars of many aquarium shows. Killer whales have never been extensively hunted by humans.

Fast Facts

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 50 to 80 years

Size: 23 to 32 ft (7 to 9.7 m)

Weight: up to 6 tons (5,443 kg)

Group name: Pod

source : http://www.montereybaywhalewatch.com, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com, Youtube

Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale Profile

Humpback whales are known for their magical songs, which travel for great distances through the world's oceans. These sequences of moans, howls, cries, and other noises are quite complex and often continue for hours on end. Scientists are studying these sounds to decipher their meaning. It is most likely that humpbacks sing to communicate with others and to attract potential mates.

These whales are found near coastlines, feeding on tiny shrimp-like krill, plankton, and small fish. Humpbacks migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the equator. Mothers and their young swim close together, often touching one another with their flippers with what appear to be gestures of affection. Females nurse their calves for almost a year, though it takes far longer than that for a humpback whale to reach full adulthood. Calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old.

Humpbacks are powerful swimmers, and they use their massive tail fin, called a fluke, to propel themselves through the water and sometimes completely out of it. These whales, like others, regularly leap from the water, landing with a tremendous splash. Scientists aren't sure if this breaching behavior serves some purpose, such as cleaning pests from the whale's skin, or whether whales simply do it for fun.

Fast Facts
Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Size: 48 to 62.5 ft (14.6 to 19 m)
Weight: 40 tons (36 metric tons)
Group name: Pod
Protection status: Endangered
source : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

Gray Whale

The only member of the family Eschrichtiidae, the gray whale is a mysticete, or baleen whale. It is a "coastal" whale that migrates along the North American Pacific Coast between arctic seas and the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. Frequently visible from shore, gray whales provide a unique opportunity for land and boat observation, and commercial whale watching has become a major industry along its migration route. Visitors to the calving and breeding lagoons sometimes encounter the phenomenon of the "friendlies"; gray whales that closely approach small boats and allow themselves to be touched by humans.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Gray whales have a streamlined body, with a narrow, tapered head. The upper jaw is arched in profile, and slightly overlaps the lower jaw. The rostrum (upper jaw) is dimpled and each of the little depressions contains one stiff hair. There are 2-5 grooves on the ventral throat 5 feet (1.5 m) in length.

COLOR: The gray whale received its name from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. On the skin are many scratches, scattered patches of white barnacles, and orange whale lice. Newborn calves are dark gray to black, although some may have distinctive white markings.

FINS AND FLUKE: The gray whale has no dorsal (top) fin. About ²/3 of the way back on its body is a prominent dorsal hump followed by a series of 6-12 knuckles along the dorsal ridge that extend to the flukes (tail lobes). Its flippers are paddle shaped and pointed at the tips. Its fluke is about 10-12 feet (3.7 m) across, pointed at the tips, and deeply notched in the center.

Length and Weight: Adult males measure 45-46 feet (13.7-14 m) and adult females measure slightly more. Both sexes weigh 30-40 tons (27,200-36,300 kg).

Feeding: Gray whales feed on small crustaceans such as amphipods, and tube worms found in bottom sediments. They feed primarily during the summer months of long daylight hours in the cold Arctic waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas. As a baleen whale, it has a series of 130-180 fringed overlapping plates hanging from each side of the upper jaw, where teeth might otherwise be located. These plates consist of a fingernail-like material called keratin that frays out into fine hairs on the ends inside the mouth next to the tongue. The plates are off-white and about 2-10 inches (5-25 cm) in length. To feed, a whale dives to the bottom, rolls on its side and draws bottom sediments and water into its mouth. As it closes its mouth, water and sediments are expelled through the baleen plates, which trap the food on the inside near the tongue to be swallowed.

Mating and Breeding: Gray whales reach sexual maturity at 5-11 years of age, or when they reach 36-39 feet (11-12 m) in length. Gestation is 12-13 months. The calf weighs 1,100-1,500 pounds (500-680 kg) and is about 15 feet (4.5 m) at birth. Calves nurse 7-8 months on milk that is 53% fat (human milk is 2% fat). Females bear a single calf, at intervals of 2 or more years. Courtship and mating behavior are complex, and frequently involve 3 or more whales of mixed sexes. Mating and calving both occur primarily in the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico, although both have been observed during the migration.

Distribution and Migration: Gray whales inhabit shallow coastal waters of the eastern North Pacific. The gray whale makes one of the longest of all mammalian migrations, averaging 10,000-14,000 miles (16,000-22,530 km) round trip. In October, the whales begin to leave their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and head south for their mating and calving lagoons in Baja California, Mexico. The southward journey takes 2-3 months. The whales remain in the lagoons for 2-3 months, allowing the calves to build up a thick layer of blubber to sustain them during the northward migration and keep them warm in the colder waters. The return trip north takes another 2-3 months. Mothers and calves travel very near shore on the northbound migration. There are some individual gray whales that are found year round in the Straits of Juan de Fuca between the State of Washington and Vancouver Island, Canada, and some that are seen during the summer months off the northern California coast.

Natural History: A migrating gray whale has a predictable breathing pattern, generally blowing 3-5 times in 15-30 second intervals before raising its fluke and submerging for 3-5 minutes. A gray whale can stay submerged up to 15 minutes, and travel at 3-6 miles per hour (4.8-9.6 km/hr). Mothers are very protective of their calves, and earned the name "Devilfish" from early whalers in the lagoons because of their violent defensive behaviors. Orcas (killer Whales) are a cause of gray whale deaths, and many gray whales have orca teeth scars on their flukes.

Status: At one time there were three gray whale populations: a north Atlantic population, now extinct, possibly the victims of over-hunting; a Korean or western north Pacific stock now very depleted, also possibly from over-hunting; and the eastern north Pacific population, the largest surviving population. Hunted to the edge of extinction in the 1850's after the discovery of the calving lagoons, and again in the early 1900's with the introduction of floating factories, the gray whale was given partial protection in 1937 and full protection in 1947 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Since that time the eastern north Pacific gray whale population has made a remarkable recovery and now numbers between 19,000 and 23,000, probably close to their original population size.

source : http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htm, www.dickrussell.org, Youtube

Sperm Whale

Photograph by Brian J. Skerry

Sperm whales' heads are filled with a mysterious substance called spermaceti. Scientists have yet to understand its function, but believe it may help the animal regulate its buoyancy.

Sperm whales are easily recognized by their massive heads and prominent rounded foreheads. They have the largest brain of any creature known to have lived on Earth. Their heads also hold large quantities of a substance called spermaceti. Whalers once believed that the oily fluid was sperm, but scientists still do not understand the function of spermaceti. One common theory is that the fluid—which hardens to wax when cold—helps the whale alter its buoyancy so it can dive deep and rise again. Sperm whales are known to dive as deep as 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) in search of squid to eat. These giant mammals must hold their breath for up to 90 minutes on such dives.

These toothed whales eat thousands of pounds of fish and squid—about one ton (907 kg) per day.

Sperm whales are often spotted in groups (called pods) of some 15 to 20 animals. Pods include females and their young, while males may roam solo or move from group to group. Females and calves remain in tropical or subtropical waters all year long, and apparently practice communal childcare. Males migrate to higher latitudes, alone or in groups, and head back towards the equator to breed. Driven by their tale fluke, approximately 16 feet (5 meters) from tip to tip, they can cruise the oceans at around 23 miles (37 kilometers) per hour.

These popular leviathans are vocal and emit a series of "clangs" that may be used for communication or for echolocation. Animals that use echolocation emit sounds that travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back to their senders—revealing the location, size, and shape of their target.

Sperm whales were mainstays of whaling's 18th and 19th century heyday. A mythical albino sperm whale was immortalized in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, though Ahab's nemesis was apparently based on a real animal whalers called Mocha Dick. The animals were targeted for oil and ambergris, a substance that forms around squid beaks in a whale's stomach. Ambergris was (and remains) a very valuable substance once used in perfumes.

Despite large population drops due to whaling, sperm whales are still fairly numerous.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Size: 49 to 59 ft (15 to 18 m)

Weight: 35 to 45 tons (31.8 to 40.8 metric tons)

Group name: Pod

Did you know? Sperm whales and giant squid may be mortal enemies. Many stories of deadly battles between these two massive animals exist, and sperm whales have even been seen with suction cup-shaped wounds and remnants of giant squid in their stomachs.

Protection status: Endangered

source : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com, Youtube

Bowhead Whale

The bowhead is one of the largest of the baleen whale species. Adults average nearly 19 m long (65 ft.) and may weigh more than 60 t (66 tn.).

Its high-arching mouth ("bowhead") is distinctive, and the ponderous head forms more than one-third of its body length. Large sheets of baleen suspended from the upper jaw are used as screens for catching its food, mainly shrimp-like crustaceans known as "krill".

Some Arctic adaptations include:

• thick blubber that provides the animal with food reserves and insulation against cold seas
• an absence of a dorsal fin, which is useful for moving among ice floes
• a massive head that can break through ice up to 0.6 m (2 ft.) thick when it is necessary to create breathing holes.

This slow-moving whale inhabits the Arctic Ocean and the sub-Arctic waters of the north Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They cruise along at 2 to 4 knots, and sound for up to 30 minutes.

These whales are among the longest-lived mammals; they are still growing after age 50, and have been proven to live well beyond 100 years.

Whaling for the bowhead began near Spitsbergen as early as 1611 and continued until the early 1900s. Around that time the demand for whalebone dwindled, and the number of animals became too low for hunting them to be of economic interest.

The bowhead has been protected by the International Whaling Commission since 1937. However, native peoples are still allowed to hunt them for food. Aside from humans, the bowhead's only other predator is the killer whale.

Bowhead populations seem to be recovering well in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, but recovery has been slower in the Baffin Island, Greenland and Spitsbergen regions, where whaling was more intensive and carried on over a longer period. The species remains endangered, with approximately 8000 bowheads in existence today.

source : http://www.sdnhm.org, http://nature.ca, Youtube

Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin Profile

Bottlenose dolphins are well known as the intelligent and charismatic stars of many aquarium shows. Their curved mouths give the appearance of a friendly, permanent smile, and they can be trained to perform complex tricks.

In the wild, these sleek swimmers can reach speeds of over 18 miles (30 kilometers) an hour. They surface often to breathe, doing so two or three times a minute. Bottlenose dolphins travel in social groups and communicate with each other by a complex system of squeaks and whistles. Schools have been known to come to the aid of an injured dolphin and help it to the surface.

Bottlenose dolphins track their prey through the expert use of echolocation. They can make up to 1,000 clicking noises per second. These sounds travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back to their dolphin senders, revealing the location, size, and shape of their target.

When dolphins are feeding, that target is often a bottom-dwelling fish, though they also eat shrimp and squid. These clever animals are also sometimes spotted following fishing boats in hopes of dining on leftovers.

Bottlenose dolphins are found in tropical oceans and other warm waters around the globe. They were once widely hunted for meat and oil (used for lamps and cooking), but today only limited dolphin fishing occurs. However, dolphins are threatened by commercial fishing for other species, like tuna, and can become mortally entangled in nets and other fishing equipment.

All dolphins, including the bottlenose, are porpoises. Although some people use these names interchangeably, porpoises are actually a larger group that also includes animals like the orca and the beluga whale.

Average lifespan in the wild: 45 to 50 years

Size: 10 to 14 ft (3 to 4.2 m)

Weight: 1,100 lbs (500 kg)

Group name: Pod

Did you know? Bottlenose dolphins have been observed to breach up to 16 feet (4.9 meters) out of the water, landing with a splash on their back or side.

Fast Facts
Type: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan in the wild: 45 to 50 years
Size: 10 to 14 ft (3 to 4.2 m)
Weight: 1,100 lbs (500 kg)
Group name: Pod
Did you know? Bottlenose dolphins have been observed to breach up to 16 feet (4.9 meters) out of the water, landing with a splash on their back or side.


source : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com, Youtube, seapics.com

Beluga Whale

Beluga Whale Profile

Belugas are also called white whales, and their unusual color makes them one of the most familiar and easily distinguishable of all the whales. Calves are born gray or even brown and only fade to white as they become sexually mature around five years of age.

White whales are smallish, ranging from 13 to 20 feet (4 to 6.1 meters) in length. They have rounded foreheads and no dorsal fin.

Belugas generally live together in small groups known as pods. They are social animals and very vocal communicators that employ a diversified language of clicks, whistles, and clangs. Belugas can also mimic a variety of other sounds.

These whales are common in the Arctic Ocean's coastal waters, though they are found in subarctic waters as well. Arctic belugas migrate southward in large herds when the sea freezes over. Animals trapped by Arctic ice often die, and they are prey for polar bears, killer whales, and for Arctic people. They are hunted by indigenous people of the north, and by commercial fisheries that brought some populations, such as those in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to near collapse.

Fast Facts

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 35 to 50 years

Size: 13 to 20 ft (4 to 6.1 m)

Weight: 2,000 to 3,000 pounds (907 to 1,361 kilograms)

Group name: Pod

Did you know? Unlike most other whales, the beluga has a flexible neck that enables it to turn its head in all directions.

Protection status: Threatened

source : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com, Youtube, www.oneinchpunch.net

Blue Whale

The largest creature ever known to have existed on Earth is the present-day blue whale. Today's blue whale is even larger than its prehistoric ancestors, reaching a total length of 30 m (100 ft.) and a weight of 136 t (150 tn.). Adult female blue whales are larger than adult males. The blue whale's heart alone is the size of a small car! Even the largest dinosaur weighed only about 18 t (20 tn.), although it probably reached 40 m (131 ft.) in length.

The calves measure 7 m (23 ft.) at birth and weigh about 2.2 to 2.7 t (2.4 to 3 tn.). A female blue whale can produce more than 200 litres (50 gal.) of high-fat milk per day. The calf gains up to 4 kg (9 lb.) per hour. When weaned at about six months of age, the calf will already be about 16 m (52 ft) long.

This giant animal is placid and shy. On the ocean surface, its normal cruising speed is about 12 knots, but it is capable of attaining 20 knots in short bursts. The maximum reported depth reached by the species is 194 fathoms. It is capable of remaining submerged beneath the surface for 50 minutes, although 10 to 15 minutes is more typical.

Blue whales have been found in every ocean of the world: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern.

Blue whales comprised about 90% of the whaling industry's total catch during the early part of the 20th century, after the advent of harpoon cannons. In 1931 alone, almost 30 000 of these majestic creatures were killed. By 1966 there were so few blue whales that the International Whaling Commission declared them protected. In 2000 it was estimated that there were fewer than 10 000 left.

source : http://nature.ca, http://www.sbnature.org, youtube

Bull Shark

Photograph by Brian J. Skerry

Bull sharks are aggressive, common, and usually live near high-population areas like tropical shorelines. They are not bothered by brackish and freshwater, and even venture far inland via rivers and tributaries.

Because of these characteristics, many experts consider bull sharks to be the most dangerous sharks in the world. Historically, they are joined by their more famous cousins, great whites and tiger sharks, as the three species most likely to attack humans.

Bull sharks get their name from their short, blunt snout, as well as their pugnacious disposition and a tendency to head-butt their prey before attacking. They are medium-size sharks, with thick, stout bodies and long pectoral fins. They are gray on top and white below, and the fins have dark tips, particularly on young bull sharks.

They are found cruising the shallow, warm waters of all the world’s oceans. Fast, agile predators, they will eat almost anything they see, including fish, dolphins, and even other sharks. Humans are not, per se, on their menus. However, they frequent the turbid waters of estuaries and bays, and often attack people inadvertently or out of curiosity.

Bull sharks currently are not threatened or endangered. However, they are fished widely for their meat, hides, and oils, and their numbers are likely shrinking. One study has found that their average lengths have declined significantly over the past few decades.

Type: Fish

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 16 years

Size: 7 to 11.5 ft (2.1 to 3.4 m)

Weight: 200 to 500 lbs (90 to 230 kg)

Group name: School or shoal

Did you know? Bull sharks have been found thousands of miles up the Amazon River, and in Nicaragua have been seen leaping up river rapids, salmon-like, to reach inland Lake Nicaragua.

source : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com, youtube

Goblin Shark

The Japanese fishermen who caught the first specimen of Mitsukurina in the "Black Current" off Yokohama called it tenguzame, which means "goblin shark." This has become its common name, although very few people besides ichthyologists and shark-book authors ever get a chance to use it. The shark is extremely rare, found only in deep water off Japan, South Africa, perhaps off Portugal, and, in one strange instance, in the Indian Ocean, cable malfunction necessitated the raising of the cable, and an awl-like shark's tooth was found embedded in the wire covering. The cable had been at 750 fathoms, and the tooth belonged to a goblin shark.

The shark is thought to have been feeding on some sort of animal life growing on the cable at that depth, but very little else is known of its feeding habits. Its awl-like teeth and protrusible jaws seem to indicate that it is a fish eater, but this is only a supposition. (It probably needs protrusible jaws to feed at all, given the nature of its forehead appendage. This seems a self-handicapping situation, so perhaps the protrusion serves some other, less problematical function.) The first known tenguzame was a 3.5-foot male, but subsequent specimens have been as long as 14 feet.

This seems to me the strangest of all the sharks. It looks like some kind of prehistoric survivor, an experiment in shark design that doesn't seem to work. And yet, by definition, it does work. Triceratops, the dinosaur with three horns, is long gone, as are Pteranodon and hundreds of other "impossible" animals. There is little that can be said about this mysterious shark, because so little is known about it. And yet, we have the most curious, incontrovertible fact of all: Mitsukurina lives.

According to National Geographic Kids: A fourth of the goblin shark's weight can be its liver. Scientists don't yet understand why its liver is so big. These sharks have been found as deep as 4,000 feet. This 10-foot-long shark preys on small octopuses and fish. It has rarely even been seen by people. The shark's "nose" is dotted with sensory cells. Scientists think the snout's main purpose is to help the shark find food in deep, dark waters.

source : http://www.greengoblin.com, Youtube

Great White Shark

Photograph by Brian J. Skerry

Great whites are torpedo-shaped with powerful tails that can propel them through the water at up to 15 miles (24 kilometers) per hour.

The legendary great white shark is far more fearsome in our imaginations than in reality. As scientific research on these elusive predators increases, their image as mindless killing machines is beginning to fade.

Of the 100-plus annual shark attacks worldwide, fully one-third to one-half are attributable to great whites. However, most of these are not fatal, and new research finds that great whites, who are naturally curious, are "sample biting" then releasing their victims rather than preying on humans. It's not a terribly comforting distinction, but it does indicate that humans are not actually on the great white's menu.

Great whites are the largest predatory fish on Earth. They grow to an average of 15 feet (4.6 meters) in length, though specimens exceeding 20 feet (6 meters) and weighing up to 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms) have been recorded.

They have slate-gray upper bodies to blend in with the rocky coastal sea floor, but get their name from their universally white underbellies. They are streamlined, torpedo-shaped swimmers with powerful tails that can propel them through the water at speeds of up to 15 miles (24 kilometers) per hour. They can even leave the water completely, breaching like whales when attacking prey from underneath.

Highly adapted predators, their mouths are lined with up to 300 serrated, triangular teeth arranged in several rows, and they have an exceptional sense of smell to detect prey. They even have organs that can sense the tiny electromagnetic fields generated by animals. Their main prey items include sea lions, seals, small toothed whales, and even sea turtles, and carrion.

Found in cool, coastal waters throughout the world, there is no reliable data on the great white's population. However, scientists agree that their number are decreasing precipitously due to overfishing and accidental catching in gill nets, among other factors, and they are listed as an endangered species.

Type: Fish

Diet: Carnivore

Size: 15 ft (4.6 m) to more than 20 ft (6 m)

Weight: 5,000 lbs (2,268 kg) or more

Group name: School or shoal

Did you know? Great whites can detect one drop of blood in 25 gallons (100 liters) of water and can sense even tiny amounts of blood in the water up to 3 miles (5 kilometers) away.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com, youtube

Hammerhead Shark

Photograph by Brian J. Skerry

Hammerheads are aggressive hunters, feeding on smaller fish, octopuses, squid, and crustaceans. They do not actively seek out human prey, but are very defensive and will attack when provoked.

Hammerhead sharks are consummate predators that use their oddly shaped heads to improve their ability to find prey. Their wide-set eyes give them a better visual range than most other sharks. And by spreading their highly specialized sensory organs over their wide, mallet-shaped head, they can more thoroughly scan the ocean for food.

One group of sensory organs is the ampullae of Lorenzini, which allows sharks to detect, among other things, the electrical fields created by prey animals. The hammerhead's increased ampullae sensitivity allows it to find its favorite meal, stingrays, which usually bury themselves under the sand.

The great hammerhead is the largest of the nine identified species of this shark. It can grow up to 20 feet (6 meters) in length and weigh up to 1,000 pounds (450 kg), although smaller sizes are more common.

Found in temperate and tropical waters worldwide, far offshore and near shorelines, hammerheads are often seen in mass summer migrations seeking cooler water. They are gray-brown to olive-green on top with off-white undersides, and they have heavily serrated, triangular teeth. Their extra-tall, pointed dorsal fins are easily identifiable.

Most hammerhead species are fairly small and are considered harmless to humans. However, the great hammerhead's enormous size and fierceness make it potentially dangerous, though few attacks have been recorded.

Hammerhead populations are not accurately known, but appear stable worldwide, and they are not considered threatened.

Type: Fish

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 20 to 30 years

Size: 13 to 20 ft (4 to 6 m)

Weight: 500 to 1,000 lbs (230 to 450 kg)

Group name: School or shoal

Did you know? Hammerheads use their wide heads to attack stingrays, pinning the winged fish against the sea floor.

source : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

Mako Shark

Photo modified from Sharks and Rays. TC Tricas, K Deacon, P Last, JE McCosker, TI Walker, L Taylor. 1997. Nature Company Guides, Time Life Book Series. Weldon Owen Pty Ltd San Francisco.

The shortfin mako shark is a sleek spindle shaped shark with a long conical snout. This shark has short pectoral fins and a crescent shaped caudal (tail) fin. There is a distinct caudal keel on the caudal base. Its second dorsal fin is much smaller than the first. The teeth are are slender and slightly curved with no lateral cusps, and are visible even when the mouth is closed. There is marked countershading on this shark: dorsally it is a metallic indigo blue while ventrally it is white.

The shortfin mako can grow to lengths of 3.9 meters (13 feet). There is still some uncertainty about its life-span, but it is suspected to reach ages of between 11-23 years.

As one of the fastest sharks in the ocean, this powerful shark can attain burst swimming speeds of up to 35 km/h (22 mph) and can leap clear of the water to heights of up to 6 meters (20 feet). These qualities have made this species a sought after sport fish in some parts of its range.

Diet

The shortfin mako feeds mainly upon bony fishes including mackerels, tunas, bonitos and swordfish, but may also eat other sharks, porpoises and sea turtles.

Reproduction

Female shortfin makos usually become sexually mature at a length of 3 meters. Developing embryos feed on unfertilized eggs in the uterus during the gestation period of 15-18 months. The 4-18 surviving young are born live in the late winter and early spring at a length of about 70 cm, but have no placental connection during development (ovoviviparity). It is believed that females may rest for 18 months after birth before the next batch of eggs are fertilized.

Habitat

Shortfin mako sharks live in tropical and temperate offshore waters. They are a pelagic species that occur from the surface down to depths of 150 meters (490 feet). This shark is seldom found in waters colder than 16 degrees Celsius.

Range

The shortfin mako is found worldwide. In the western Atlantic it can be found from Argentina and the Gulf of Mexico to Browns Bank off of Nova Scotia. In Canadian waters these sharks are not abundant as they prefer warm waters, but neither are they rare. Shortfin makos are often found in the same waters as swordfish as they are a source of food and both fish prefer similar environmental conditions.

Distinguishing Characteristics

• Teeth are visible even when the mouth is closed
• Teeth are long and slender with smooth-edged cusps
• Distinct countershading, dorsally blue and ventrally white
• Moderately short pectoral fins
• Underside of the snout is white
• Lunate tail and caudal keel

source : http://new-brunswick.net, Youtube

Sand Tiger Shark

Photograph by David Doubilet

Despite their rows of ragged teeth and vicious appearance, sand tiger sharks are actually rather docile, usually attacking humans only in self-defense.

Sand sharks, also known as sand tigers and gray nurse sharks, have a deceivingly ferocious look. They are large-bodied and display a mouthful of sharp teeth that protrude in all directions, even when the mouth is shut. Despite this, they are a docile, non-aggressive species, known to attack humans only when bothered first.

Sand sharks are brownish-gray with rust-colored spots on top and white underneath. They have a flattened, cone-shaped snout and a distinctive, oblong tail with a notched, upper lobe that is significantly longer than the lobe below. Individuals range in size from 6.5 to 10.5 feet (2 to 3.2 meters) in length.

Their name comes from their tendency toward shoreline habitats, and they are often seen trolling the ocean floor in the surf zone, very close to shore. They are found in warm or temperate waters throughout the world's oceans, except the eastern Pacific.

Sand tigers are the only shark known to come to the surface and gulp air. They store the air in their stomachs, which allows them to float motionless in the water, seeking prey. They are voracious predators, feeding at night and generally staying close to the bottom. Their staple is small fish, but they will eat crustaceans and squid as well. They occasionally hunt in groups, and have even been known to attack full fishing nets.

Although this species is widespread and is not widely fished for food, it has one of the lowest reproduction rates of all sharks and is susceptible to even minimal population pressure. For this reason, it is listed as vulnerable and is protected in much of its range.

Type: Fish

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 15 years or more

Size: 6.5 to 10.5 ft (2 to 3.2 m)

Weight: 200 to 350 lbs (91 to 159 kg)

Group name: School or shoal

Did you know? Sand sharks survive well in captivity, and their large size and menacing appearance makes them an extremely popular addition to public aquariums.

source : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com, Youtube

Threser Shark

Photo modified from Sharks and Rays. TC Tricas, K Deacon, P Last, JE McCosker, TI Walker, L Taylor. 1997. Nature Company Guides, Time Life Book Series. Weldon Owen Pty Ltd., San Francisco.

The thresher shark is characterized by its large upper caudal fin. This tail fin may often be 50 percent of the total length of the shark. It has a short snout and large eyes placed forward on the head. The second dorsal fin is much smaller than the first. The thresher is a strong swimmer and can leap clear of the water. The jaws are small with small, curved sharp teeth without basal cusps or serrations. Colour varies from brown to black with metallic hues from above and irregular white markings on the underside. In Canadian waters sizes have ranged from 3.3 to 5.5 meters (10.8 to 18 feet) long. The maximum size recorded for this species is 6.1 meters (20 feet), however they generally are between 2 to 5 meters (10 to 16.5 feet) in length.

Diet

The thresher shark eats schooling fish, such as herring and mackerel and cephalopods such as squid. The large caudal fin is used to slap the surface of the water forcing fish to form tighter schools; the tail can then be used as a whip to stun or kill the prey.

Reproduction

This shark is ovoviviparous, with the eggs being hatched inside the female, and 2 to 6 live pups being delivered at a size of 1.5 meters (5 feet) long. During development the young may cannibalize their siblings within the uterine chamber.

Habitat

The thresher often swims at the surface of coastal waters. However it can also occur at depths of 350 meters (1,150 feet) or more. The young may be found inshore in shallow water.

Range

The thresher shark is a summer visitor to the Canadian Atlantic region. They have been captured from July to November, but most frequently during August and September. The thresher ranges through all warm and temperate areas of the worlds oceans. Its northernmost range in the western Atlantic is eastern Newfoundland and it ranges all the way down the Atlantic to the West Indies and northern South America.

source : http://www.new-brunswick.net, Youtube

Tiger Shark

Tiger sharks are named for the dark, vertical stripes found mainly on juveniles. As these sharks mature, the lines begin to fade and almost disappear.

These large, blunt-nosed predators have a duly earned reputation as man-eaters. They are second only to great whites in attacking people. But because they have a near completely undiscerning palate, they are not likely to swim away after biting a human, as great whites frequently do.

They are consummate scavengers, with excellent senses of sight and smell and a nearly limitless menu of diet items. They have sharp, highly serrated teeth and powerful jaws that allow them to crack the shells of sea turtles and clams. The stomach contents of captured tiger sharks have included stingrays, sea snakes, seals, birds, squids, and even license plates and old tires.

Tiger sharks are common in tropical and sub-tropical waters throughout the world. Large specimens can grow to as much as 20 to 25 feet (6 to 7.5 meters) in length and weigh more than 1,900 pounds (900 kilograms).

They are heavily harvested for their fins, skin, and flesh, and their livers contain high levels of vitamin A, which is processed into vitamin oil. They have extremely low repopulation rates, and therefore may be highly susceptible to fishing pressure. They are listed as near threatened throughout their range.



source : http://akunidive.com, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com, Youtube

Whale Shark

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The whale shark is a the biggest shark and the biggest fish. It is NOT a whale. It has a huge mouth which can be up to 4 feet (1.4 m) wide. Its mouth is at the very front of its head (not on the underside of the head like in most sharks). It has a wide, flat head, a rounded snout, small eyes, 5 very large gill slits, 2 dorsal fins (on its back) and 2 pectoral fins (on its sides). The spiracle (a vestigial first gill slit used for breathing when the shark is resting on the sea floor) is located just behind the shark's eye. Its tail has a top fin much larger than the lower fin.

The whale shark has distinctive light-yellow markings (random stripes and dots) on its very thick dark gray skin. Its skin is up to 4 inches (10 cm) thick. There are three prominent ridges running along each side of the shark's body.

This enormous shark is a filter feeder and sieves enormous amounts of plankton to eat through its gills as it swims.

SIZE

Whale shark

A scuba diver above a Whale shark.
The whale shark is up to 46 feet (14 m), weighing up to 15 tons. The average size is 25 feet (7.6 m) long It is the largest fish in the world. Females are larger than males (like most sharks).

TEETH

Whale sharks have about 3,000 very tiny teeth but they are of little use. Whale sharks are filter feeders who sieve their tiny food through their large gills.

DIET AND FEEDING HABITS

The whale shark is a filter feeder that sieves small animals from the water. As it swims with its mouth open, it sucks masses of water filled with prey into its mouth and through spongy tissue between its 5 large gill arches. After closing its mouth, the shark uses gills rakers that filter the nourishment from the water. Anything that doesn't pass through the gills is eaten. Gill rakers are bristly structures (the thousands of bristles are about 4 inches or 10 cm long) in the shark's mouth that trap the small organisms which the shark then swallows. The water is expelled through the sharks 5 pairs of gill slits. The prey includes plankton, krill, small fish, and squid. The shark can process over 1500 gallons (6000 liters) of water each hour.

SOCIAL GROUPS

Whale sharks are solitary creatures. Groups of whale sharks have only rarely been seen.

HABITAT

Whale sharks live in warm water (near the equator) both along the coast and in the open seas. They spend most of their time near the surface.

DISTRIBUTION

Whale sharks are found worldwide in the warm oceans from the equator to about ±30-40° latitude. They are not, however, found in the Mediterranean Sea.

SWIMMING

Whale sharks are slow swimmers, going no more than 3 mph (5 kph). They swim by moving their entire bodies from side to side (not just their tails, like some other sharks do).

REPRODUCTION

The Whale shark was long thought to be oviparous (an egg 14 inches (36 cm) long was found in the Gulf of Mexico in 1953; this would be the largest egg in the world). Recently, pregnant females have been found containing hundreds of pups, so, Whale sharks are viviparous, giving birth to live young. Newborns are over 2 feet (60 cm) long.
Whale sharks are sexually mature at 30 years old. This is the age at which they are able to mate and reproduce.

WHALE SHARK ATTACKS

Whale sharks are harmless to people and usually indifferent to divers.

LIFE SPAN

It has been estimated that whale sharks may live up to 100 - 150 years.

source : http://www.enchantedlearning.com, http://sandynata.files.wordpress.com, Yutube

Blue Shark

by dsc.discovery.com

Beautiful and elegant are not words often associated with sharks, but they seem appropriate for the sleek blue shark. Its streamlined, indigo-blue body seems to move effortlessly from the surface to the deep sea that it favors. Its large pectoral fin and other appendages help with navigation, but its secret to buoyancy is a giant, oil-filled liver. This makes it easier for the shark to travel incredibly long distances. One tagged blue shark traveled from New York to Brazil, a distance of over 3,740 miles.

Porbeagle Shark

by dsc.discovery.com

Many sharks and other fish prefer warm water, but porbeagle sharks like to stay cool. They inhabit coastal regions and the open sea. Like shortfin mako sharks, porbeagles possess a body heat regulatory mechanism that can raise their temperature several degrees higher than that of the surrounding water. As a result, they function efficiently in the freezing water off the coasts of Iceland and Chile. This stocky shark is often included in studies on whether or not sharks play. That is because several observers have reported seeing porbeagles in groups of up to 20 individuals manipulating and tossing about floating objects, including lumber and seaweed. They seem to engage in such activity for no apparent reason other than to pass the time.

Lemon Shark

by dsc.discovery.com

Lemon sharks may dive up to 1,300 feet when searching for food, but usually they are found near shore areas at depths closer to 295 feet. Their unusual coloration sets them apart from most other sharks. “Lemon” refers to their light brown, yellow-tinged skin. It provides good camouflage for the sharks, which like to rest over the sandy bottoms of shallow water regions. From a distance, it is hard to tell where the sand ends and the shark begins. One clue might be the presence of small reef fishes, such as wrasses, which gather around this shark to pick off parasites from its gills and skin. This species is most commonly found in the Caribbean, but it also exists in the western and eastern Atlantic and eastern Pacific from southern Baja California to Ecuador.

Basking Shark

by Wikipedia

The basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, is the second largest living shark, after the whale shark. It is a cosmopolitan species — it is found in all the world's temperate oceans. It is a slow moving and generally harmless filter feeder.

Like other large sharks, basking sharks could some day be at risk of extinction due to a combination of low resilience and overfishing if good conservation practices are not followed.

Mola Mola

The ocean sunfish (mola mola) is the largest bony fish in the world. It is a unique pelagic fish, and specimens of ocean sunfish have been observed up to 3.3 m (11 ft) in length and weighing up to 2,300 kg (5,100 lb).

In Indonesia, precisely in Nusapanida Bali mola mola fish there that are large, the following video:

Mekong Giant Catfish

Media Credit: AP Photo A 646.2-pound Mekong giant catfish, netted in Thailand, may be the largest freshwater fish ever found. The fish was documented as part of a World Wildlife Fund-National Geographic project to identify, study and conserve freshwater fish around the world that exceed 6 feet in length and 200 pounds in weight. [Click to enlarge]

by Mike Smith

Daily Lobo



Elephant Butte Reservoir can get fairly deep - around 80 feet near the dam - deep enough for sunken boats to stay sunken, for enormous fish to stay hidden and for stories of such fish to remain nearly impossible to confirm.

These stories, told by fishermen, fishing guides and locals, tell of enormous catfish - catfish ranging in size from the slightly terrifying to the utterly panic-inducing.

The stories say catfish around the base of the dam are like freshwater whales, growing as big as their massive aquarium will let them, and eating whatever the upper Rio Grande and its tributaries wash down - other fish, plants, swimming dogs, decomposing human bodies and even the occasional small deer that ventures too close to the water.

"Basically, from what I understand, just below the dam there's just some really old catfish the size of you and I," Young's Water Sports owner Bo Young said. "I never witnessed it myself, but it's certainly feasible. Catfish do get pretty big."

Frank Vilorio, an employee at Land of Enchantment Fishing Adventures, said divers repairing a wall of the dam saw several large catfish.

"They compared one of those catfish to a Volkswagen bug with the hood open," Vilorio said.

John Morlock, a semi-retired Elephant Butte fishing guide, said he once knew a woman who swore she knew divers who had been in the water and seen enormous whiskered catfish the size of school buses - catfish so huge and so frightening that one of the divers never re-entered the water.

The New Mexico state record for the largest catfish ever caught was set at Elephant Butte in 1979. That catfish weighed 78 pounds and was almost 4 feet long. It was huge, but it wasn't bus-sized.

Stories of giant catfish aren't unique to New Mexico or to the present.

Father Jacques Marquette wrote about a gigantic catfish ramming his canoe on a Midwestern river in the late-1600s. A Protestant missionary, on the Ohio River in 1780, relayed the story of a catfish pulling a man from a riverbank to drown and then eat him. Mark Twain wrote a fictional account of catching a more than 6-foot-long one in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

"Others are quite current, including the persistent rumor of a large flathead (catfish) caught at the mouth of the Tradewater River on the Ohio, by Caseyville, Kentucky, which contained a human baby," wrote Jan Harold Brunvand in American Folklore: An Encyclopedia. "This supposedly occurred during the 1970s. ... Many river folk believe that very large catfish, hardly ever encountered by fishermen, live in deep holes in the river for decades. There are also legends of huge catfish living at the bases of dams, who prey on divers inspecting or performing maintenance."

Such stories pop up all over the country in countless rivers and lakes and reservoirs, often with details startlingly similar to the ones from Elephant Butte - but this shouldn't make us think any less of our stories.

Our stories may be unproven. They may lack physical evidence or firsthand witnesses, and they may have every hallmark of an urban legend, but they do have one thing going for them: Nowhere else in America are the fabled catfish ever so big.

Ours are bigger than all of them, even if they are probably just as fictitious. Catfish the size of cars just aren't sufficient for New Mexico. We need them bus-sized.

And we shouldn't stop at that, either.

"I heard there was a two-headed fish caught out there," Young said. "A bass."

Mike Smith is a UNM history major and the author of Towns of the Sandia Mountains. E-mail him suggestions for future columns at AntarcticSuburbs@yahoo.com.




Youtube.

Big Fish in the World

Wildlife in the many animals that have not been in existence is known by men, one of which is the type of fish, fish is one of the animals that live in water, fresh water and sea water.

Not all people know the kind of fish, small fish and large fish in the world because many kinds of fish.
I will try to share with you about the biggest fish in the world, you can read the articles I publish, and also photographs of it, or may also be video.
as we see in the picture above, it is one of the fish that are large, reaching the 74.5-inch long, but not including fish in the world, to the size of fish in the world must achieve a minimum of 75 inch.



photo by Matthew Nelson