Sharks & Rays

LATEST TODAY'S CATCH

X-Ray Image of a Monterey Skate

May 14, 2013 - 9:19AMAn 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 in...
Mar 28, 2013 - 9:45AM
Gray reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) are known for being active at...
Mar 20, 2013 - 9:27AM
A great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) emerges from the water's...

SPOTLIGHT

5 Reasons to Revere, Not Fear, the Shark

CREDIT: © Mary Parrish/Smithsonian Institution 1. Respect Your Elders  Sharks have a long and impressive...
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. The sinister animal, with its sleek body, can be quite aggressive when directly threatened. 
Jul 18 2012 - 10:45am
It's hard to imagine a 2000-pound animal launching itself out of the water while hunting, but the great white shark does just that. This spectacular behavior is called breaching, and great white sharks breach in order to catch fast-moving prey like seals.
May 16 2012 - 4:35pm
How do we know where ocean animals swim day and night? Scientists are getting snapshots into the daily lives of whales, sharks, and even fish by tagging the animals to track their movements.  
Nov 18 2010 - 4:49pm
Sunday, November 21 marks World Fisheries Day, an annual occasion observed in many fishing communities around the world. It’s a great opportunity—even for those of us who do not fish for a living—to pause and reflect on the importance of maintaining healthy fisheries.
Oct 13 2011 - 1:15pm
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 in Bimini, nearly 100-degrees and mosquitoes were thick and relentless, swarming on to any bare skin. Yet...
Dec 17 2009 - 7:20pm
In California, the Gulf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary provides protection to Great White Sharks and other species. More about the great white shark can be found in our Great White Shark featured story.
Aug 16 2012 - 11:22am
Enric Sala has spent much of his career looking for the ocean's "time machines" -- areas rich in biodiversity and largely unaffected by humans. In this recorded webcast, Sala, a National Geographic Ocean Fellow, takes the audience to the ocean's last wild places and tells us what scientists are...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
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 can be found in our Great White Shark featured story.
Nov 16 2012 - 6:05pm
For the last 150 years, paleontologists have debated the origins of the great white shark. Many believe that they descended from the 50-foot megalodon, also known as the megatooth shark (Carcharocles megalodon), which is often imagined to be a vastly inflated great white. But after the discovery of...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This X-ray shows the mouth on the underside of a white-rimmed stingray (Himantura signifer). The ray feeds without seeing its prey. Its eyes are on the top of its body, while its mouth is on the bottom. This rarely recorded freshwater species is known from about 10 specimens in museum...
Feb 17 2010 - 7:13pm
Great White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are marvels of evolution, with highly-evolved senses keeping them among the ocean’s top predators. More about the great white shark can be found in our Great White Shark featured story.
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. When she saw a pregnant bull shark left for dead on a beach, Sophie knew she needed to help.
Feb 26 2013 - 10:35am
Two fossilized teeth from a megalodon (Carcharodon megalodon) dating back more than 20 million years.
Mar 5 2010 - 4:29pm
Manta rays are related to sharks, but have quite a different reputation among humans. They are often called the gentle giants of the sea because of their curious nature and graceful movements. This one glides up, as if to greet a diver in the blue water, near San Benedicto, Mexico.
Are Sharks Scary
Dec 18 2009 - 3:20pm
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 species; now that’s scary. More about the great white shark can be found in our Great White Shark...
Aug 13 2012 - 8:29am
An array of teeth from the sand tiger shark, Carcharias taurus. The Smithsonian has the largest collection of shark teeth in the world, with more than 90,000 fossil shark teeth. More about sharks and great whites can be found in our Great White Shark featured story.