COLDWATERS C I E N C EA journal of marine life
& ocean exploration
COLDWATER SCIENCE / ANIMAL FIELD GUIDES
Compare white, tiger, bull, filter-feeding and deep-water sharks through their body plans, food, habitats and the evidence behind size and age estimates.
60 animal articles · Scientific references · Credited cover images
12 articles
Wildlife photographSharks
White sharks are large, streamlined predators whose size, tooth shape and sensory systems help distinguish them from similar sharks. Juvenile habitat research documented a northward range change, while leaving individual causes and total population numbers unresolved.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
Tiger sharks are recognizable by a combination of body shape, ridged back, tail and distinctive teeth; their stripes fade with age. Their documented diet spans many prey types, but varies by place and individual, so a long menu is not a universal meal plan.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
Bull sharks can move between coastal seas, estuaries and fresh water because their internal chemistry and salt-transport organs adjust to changing salinity. A controlled juvenile study measured these shifts, but its values do not describe every bull shark or explain why one chooses a particular river reach.
Read the animal guide →
Watercolor paintingSharks
Whale sharks are sharks, not whales: they breathe with gills and feed by filtering food from water. Their forward swimming and active suction move prey-bearing water across filtering structures, while spot patterns help researchers track individuals and estimate growth.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
Basking sharks feed by swimming with mouths open, using gill rakers to intercept zooplankton from passing water. Surface sightings reflect prey, movement, visibility and survey effort, so a regional record decline is informative but cannot be read as a direct census.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
Scalloped hammerheads are recognizable by a notched, arched head margin, but some look-alike species cannot be separated reliably from appearance alone. Their schooling, varied prey and nursery use shape their ecology; US ESA listings differ by population segment.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
The great hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran, is identified most reliably by a combination of head shape, dorsal-fin profile and pelvic-fin edges. Its prey, coastal and offshore habitats, and juvenile nursery areas help explain how it lives, but size alone cannot identify it.
Read the animal guide →
Gouache natural-history artSharks
Greenland shark age estimates come from radiocarbon measured in eye-lens cores, not observed birthdays or clear vertebral growth rings. The largest sampled female’s modeled estimate was 392 years, with a wide probability range that must remain part of the claim.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
Shortfin makos combine a streamlined body and regionally warmed swimming muscles with a diet of active pelagic prey. Their performance and fishing vulnerability require evidence tied to measurement methods and ocean regions, not a universal speed claim or worldwide stock conclusion.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
Thresher sharks are recognized by an unusually long upper tail lobe. Evidence from common threshers describes a diet of schooling fish and squid, while filmed hunts of pelagic threshers show a staged tail strike that can stun several sardines. The species and limits of that observation matter.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
The Atlantic nurse shark is a coastal bottom-dweller with barbels, rounded dorsal fins and a mouth backed by a large pharynx. Suction helps draw varied prey into that small mouth. Daytime resting is common, but a resting shark remains a capable predator.
Read the animal guide →
Wildlife photographSharks
The blacktip reef shark (*Carcharhinus melanopterus*) is identified by a combination of fin markings, body color, snout shape and shallow tropical Indo-Pacific habitat. Because angle, turbidity and underwater color shifts can hide features, a distant fin alone rarely supports a confident identification.
Read the animal guide →