The great white shark
Best known for being in the movie Jaws, the great white shark is another top predator with amazing speed. It is mostly found along the coasts of Australia, South Africa, California and the northeast United States. It can grow to about 6 metres long and weigh more than 2,000kg.
This fearsome shark can smell blood from 5km away. It eats whales, sea lions, seals and other sea animals. It usually takes its prey by surprise, hiding under its victim before bursting out of the water.
Although the great white is often feared as a man-eater, it rarely attacks people.
The great hammerhead shark
This shark is a top predator. It is the largest of nine species of hammerhead sharks, and it can be easily recognised by its weird hammer-shaped head. This shark has very wide vision, and it can see above and below it at all times!
It lives in warm waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The great hammerhead shark's favourite prey is rays, which it pins to the seabed with its head. It then bites the ray's fins to stop it from moving, and eats it whole.
The angel shark
This is a very special kind of shark. It has a flat body with extremely long fins, and people often think it is a ray. But unlike rays, this shark uses its long fins to move around.
It usually eats fish, squid, lobsters and molluscs. It can grow to 2.5 metres long and weigh around 35kg. It is nocturnal and spends most of the day buried in the seabed.
There are 23 species of angel shark and they are found all around the world. This species has a very large mouth with razor-sharp teeth.
Young angel sharks have fake eyes on their bodies to help scare off predators.
Angel sharks lie very still, hidden in the sand, and wait for prey. When its prey gets close enough, it grabs it in a tenth of a second!
The frilled shark
The frilled shark is one of the most terrifying-looking creatures in the sea. It looks like an underwater snake with a long, smooth body that bends. Its face looks like a snake, too.
The frilled shark gets its name from the six gills on each side of its body that make a frill-like collar.
A frilled shark is smaller than some other sharks, but it is no less scary. The shark's mouth is lined with about 300 teeth, in 25 rows! The teeth are fork-shaped and face backward. This makes it impossible for its prey to escape.
The frilled shark lives very deep in the ocean, and is not often seen.
Fun facts
Sharks have no bones in their bodies. Instead their skeletons are made of cartilage, the same tough, bendy stuff our ears are made of!
Quick questions
- What does the hammerhead shark eat?
- How do young angel sharks scare away predators?
- How does the frilled shark get its name?
