When you hear the word “shark,” the great white might be the first creature that comes to mind. But that maligned predator is only one of roughly 5 hundred shark species. Here are five other big sharks that do their part to keep our oceans healthy ...


Blacktip Shark
Carcharhinus limbatus

Blacktip sharks are found in warm coastal waters around the world. They can grow up to eight feet long.

These sharks work together to feed on large schools of fish, surrounding the fish and forcing them into tighter and tighter balls.

Blacktips gulp up the fish with jaws that can open nearly 90 degrees. Fifteen rows of serrated teeth line each side of their upper and lower jaws.


Sand Tiger Shark
Carcharias taurus

Sand tiger sharks can detect prey using an electromagnetic sixth sense.

On their snouts, sand tiger sharks have over 15 hundred jelly-filled sacks—or ampullae—that pick up electrical signals created by a fish’s breathing and heartbeat.

So, even fish that camouflage themselves on the ocean floor aren’t always safe.

When the fish are discovered, sand tiger sharks—also known as ragged tooth sharks—use their needle like teeth to impale their prey.


Galapagos Shark
Carcharhinus galapagensis

Despite their name—which refers to the islands where these sharks were first discovered—Galapagos sharks are found in open waters around the world.

They have a sense of smell 10 thousand times better than that of humans’.

Like most sharks, a Galapagos’s nostrils are made only for smelling, not for breathing. And their olfactory lobe, used for smell, can make up one-fifth of their brain weight.

This heightened sense of smell aids in their hunt of tuna, octopuses, rays, and other animals.


Tiger Shark
Galeocerdo cuvier

Unrelated to the sand tiger shark, the tiger shark is like the garbage disposal of the sea, eating pretty much anything in its path.

Stingrays, birds, and squid are just some of the foods on the tiger’s menu … along with the occasional tin can, car tire, and license plate, which it may mistake for food.

Tiger sharks hunt at night. Their eyes are suited to dark and cloudy waters.

Their ears can detect sound from miles away.

And the tiger shark’s sharp teeth and powerful jaws can even chomp through sea turtle shells.



Whale Shark
Rhincodon typus

Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea, stretching 40 feet, or even longer. That’s about the length of a school bus.

Their mouths alone are nearly six feet wide and contain 3,000 tiny teeth.

But rather than bite, these filter feeders suck in tons of plankton, shrimp, and other small animals each day.

Like some species of sharks, whale sharks are endangered. Fishing, collision with boats, and entanglement in fishing nets are the primary threats to these giants of the sea.