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Lying in water only a foot deep, I watched the shark meander lazily through the mangrove, already exuding the confidence inherent of the supreme creature within its domain. It was hot here...
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May 14, 2013 - 9:19AM
An X-ray image of a Monterey skate ( Raja montereyensis ) reveals a spine that extends like a tail out from the pelvic fin. The skeletons of skates, rays, chimaeras, and sharks are made of cartilage, rather than bone. Scientists...
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CREDIT: © Mary Parrish/Smithsonian Institution 1. Respect Your Elders Sharks have a long and impressive lineage. Ancient...
MORE SHARKS & RAYS
Dec 18 2009 - 2:20pm
What is scarier: sharks or extinction? This video from Save Our Seas puts whether we should fear sharks or they should fear us into perspective . Humans have killed killed off 95% of some shark...
Jan 26 2010 - 10:45am
Great White Sharks breach to hunt -- with split-second timing they grab an unsuspecting seal or sea lion in one swift snatch. Follow the action in this slideshow . Learn more about the great white...
Sep 1 2011 - 3:08pm
CREDIT: © Mary Parrish/Smithsonian Institution 1. Respect Your Elders Sharks have a long and impressive lineage. Ancient sharks were cruising the ocean 400 million years ago--long before dinosaurs...
Dec 17 2009 - 6:00pm
Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History use X-ray imaging to study the complex bone structure and diversity of fish. This image gallery showcases...
Jan 26 2010 - 10:45am
The smallest shark, a dwarf lantern shark ( Etmopterus perryi ) is smaller than a human hand. It's rarely seen and little is known about it, having only been observed a few times off the northern tip...
Mar 28 2013 - 9:45am
Gray reef sharks ( Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos ) are known for being active at night. They are considered Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List due to fishing and the loss of their coral reef habitat...
Apr 27 2012 - 10:19am
Reef sharks rarely get any love. These sharks, comprising several species, loiter around coral reefs, snacking on small fish, squids and crustaceans. And while their size is nothing to smirk at -- 5-...
Oct 18 2010 - 4:27pm
Dr. Demian Chapman of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at New York’s Stony Brook University explains how DNA extraction from shark fins can identify the species of shark and where the...
Dec 17 2009 - 6:14pm
A shark nursery in a lagoon in the Pacific. Shark nurseries are found mainly in shallow water regions in which the shark pups can grow up while being protected from larger predators. More about the...
Jan 26 2010 - 10:45am
Great White Sharks breach to hunt -- with split-second timing they grab an unsuspecting seal or sea lion in one swift snatch. Follow the action in this slideshow.
Jan 26 2010 - 10:45am
By-catch, illegal fishing, sport fishing, loss of prey and habitat and shark nets are threatening Great White Shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ) populations globally. More about the great white shark...
Sep 29 2011 - 1:33pm
An oceanic whitetip shark swims near a biologist in the Bahamas in this image captured by National Geographic photojournalist Brian Skerry. For nearly 30 years, Skerry has been swimming with and...
May 25 2012 - 1:09pm
What would you do if you came face to face with a shark ? Brian Skerry lives for these moments and is ready with his camera. Here he is seen photographing a large tiger shark on the seafloor near the...
Jan 26 2010 - 10:45am
The distinctive form of a winghead shark, Eusphyra blochii , is revealed by an X-ray image. The shark's eyes are spread far apart, giving it superb binocular vision. Scientists in the Division of...
Jan 7 2013 - 9:06am
The shortfin mako shark ( Isurus oxyrinchus) is found offshore in tropical and warm temperate waters of all oceans, but has been known to travel to cooler waters at times. It is very strong and the...
Jun 9 2011 - 3:45pm
Sophi Bromenshenkel is an unlikely shark -lover. She's eight years old and hails from Minnesota, a state that couldn't be further from the ocean. But a family vacation to Florida changed everything...
Feb 13 2013 - 9:55am
In November 2012, Australia began protecting a huge swath of its ocean from overfishing and oil exploration, creating the largest network of marine reserves in the world at a grand total of 1.2...
May 18 2011 - 11:28am
The sea's largest fish has been a mystery until recent decades. Thanks to electronic tags, researchers are uncovering some of the secrets of the whale shark ( Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828 ). One...
