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There are more than 500 species of sharks and they live in all seas around the world, and even in some rivers. sharks are skilled and effective hunters, but have an infamous reputation and many are highly feared. While it may seem like there are a lot of sharks, there are many species that are critically endangered and on the brink become extinct. This is where we discover the most threatened sharks in the world! Although these sharks are in no particular order, keep in mind that many sharks are highly endangered. One shark in this list is so rare it was considered extinct for many years!
10. Ganges shark
One of the rarest sharks in the world is the Ganges shark which has a critically endangered requiem shark. Ganges sharks are true river sharks, meaning they have adapted to survive in a fresh water environment, and are found in rivers in India and Bangladesh – especially the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Hooghly. Ganges sharks are brownish-gray and have stocky bodies, with a broad snout and small eyes. They are about 2 feet tall at birth and mature to between 5 and 6.5 feet tall. Ganges sharks feed by swimming along the bottom of rivers while scanning the water above in search of their prey. Their teeth are designed to pierce fish instead of mammals and they mainly eat fresh water shine and bony fish.
Ganges sharks are widely feared, but often mistaken for the meaner one bull shark, which can also inhabit rivers. Many of the attacks attributed to the Ganges sharks have been carried out by bull sharks, and scientists believe that Ganges sharks are so rare that they rarely come into contact with humans. It is thought that only about 250 Ganges sharks remain today. Their main threats are man-made: environmental pollution, increased use of rivers, dam construction and hunting.
9. Daggernose Shark
Daggernose sharks are found in shallow tropical waters off the northeast coast of South America where their preferred depths are between 10 and 130 feet. They are not particularly large sharks and only reach lengths of about 5 feet. Daggernose sharks are distinguished in that their snout is long, flat and has a very pointed tip. They mainly eat small fish, as anchovies, catfish, and herring. Daggernose sharks mate at the end of the rainy season and the gestation period lasts a year. However, they can change the timing of their reproductive cycle by up to four months, depending on habitat conditions. Daggernose sharks are critically endangered and are considered to be on the verge of become extinct. Daggernose sharks are regularly hunted for food and caught as bycatch. These are the main reasons for their population decline.
8. Oceanic White Point
One of the most infamous threatened sharks is the oceanic white tip. Oceanic whitetips have white tips on their fins and grow to 13 feet in length. They are best known for being particularly dangerous to the survivors of plane and shipwrecks and some reports claim they have killed more people than even great white sharks and bull sharks (although official data points to the big white with the title of the the world’s most dangerous shark). Oceanic whitetips are solitary sharks and live in open tropical oceans around the world. Although they were once very common all over the world, their numbers have declined rapidly and they are now critically endangered. Oceanic whitetips are under great pressure from the fishing industry worldwide as their fins are the main ingredient in shark fin soup.
7. Pondicherry Shark
Pondicherry sharks are extremely rare requiem sharks. They have a stocky build and are no longer than 3 ft 3 in. They are distinctive and have prominent black tips on their pectoral fins, second dorsal fin and lower caudal fin. Pondicherry sharks were once widespread in the Indo-Pacific and were regularly caught off the coasts of India and Pakistan. However, Pondicherry sharks were thought to have gone extinct between the 1970s and 2011 when they were rediscovered in India. Officially, Pondicherry sharks are official critically endangered, but they are so rarely seen that it will not be long before they are thought to be extinct again.
6. Sand Tiger Shark
sand tiger sharks have a few different names depending on where they are found, and are also known as sand sharks, nurse gray sharks (Australia), and ragged tooth sharks (Africa). They live in tropical and subtropical waters around the world and owe their “sand” name to their preference for shallow, sandy shorelines. They have thick bodies and pointed heads and reach a length of about 10 feet. Sand tiger sharks indoors Australia and South Africa migrate more than 1,000 miles a year. They give birth in colder waters and then travel north to areas of rocks and caves to mate again in the winter.
They then migrate even further north to warmer waters for the duration of their pregnancy before traveling south again to give birth.
Sand tiger sharks have the lowest reproductive rate of all sharks, having only 1 or 2 fry every two to three years. This is the main reason that sand tiger sharks are: critically endangered. However, the implementation of shark nets around beaches has also contributed to their decline.
5. Great hammerhead shark
as the biggest hammer head shark, great hammerhead sharks easily reach 15 to 20 feet. They are one of the most unique and distinctive sharks in the world with their hammer-shaped snouts. Great hammerheads live in tropical waters around the world. Some populations from Florida and the South China Sea migrate closer to the poles in the summer months. They are solitary sharks and feed on a wide variety of preyincluding bony fish, crabs, octopuses and smaller sharks. The only natural predator of great hammerhead sharks is orcas. However, humans pose a major threat to them through overfishing and bycatch. Unfortunately, there are now great hammerhead sharks critically endangered and in many regions, their populations have declined by as much as 80% in the past 25 years.
4. Whale shark
whale shark are the largest shark in the world and the largest known fish, measuring approximately 60 feet in length. They live in tropical seas around the world, both offshore and in coastal areas. Whale sharks have dark gray skin and white bellies with a series of spots and stripes that are individual to each shark. They are called whale sharks because of their large size and because they are filter feeders baleen whales. Whale sharks have more than 300 rows of small teeth and 20 filter pads. They use the filter pads for sieving food – usually plankton – which cling to the filters while the water is forced back out through their gills.
Unfortunately whale sharks are official threatened and no reliable estimates of their numbers are available. Their main threats come from ship strikes, overfishing, bycatch and their slow maturation and reproduction. In addition, the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill is believed to have played a role in their decline as it occurred in the area where many of them used to feed.
3. Dark Shark
Another official threatened shark is the dusky shark that occurs worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters. Dusky sharks can reach 14 feet in length and are gray or beige with a streamlined body and five pairs of gills. They generally hunt near the bottom of the ocean and have a varied diet. Dusky sharks have a particularly long gestation period of nearly two years. There is also a one-year period between pregnancies, which means they reproduce slowly. Dusky sharks are highly sought after for the shark fin trade and are also regularly caught by anglers. In the past, many dusky sharks were caught in shark nets off the coast of Australia and South Africa. This is believed to have contributed significantly to the collapse of their population.
2. Great White Shark
Easily the best known of all sharks is the great white shark. Great white sharks have been made famous by movies and documentaries depicting them as ruthless killers, but actually they have enough to fear from us! Great white sharks are officially a vulnerable kind. Their population has declined significantly in recent years and it is estimated that fewer than 3,500 remain. The main cause of this is thought to be sport fishing and incidents where they are caught in the shark nets around the beaches. Great whites are also subject to Australia’s shark control program (sharks culling). Great white sharks live in water between 12 and 24°C, both in coastal and offshore areas.
1. Common Thresher Shark
Also known as Atlantic threshers, common thresher sharks are easily distinguished by their extra-long upper caudal fin. They can reach 20 feet and their tails make up about half their length. Common threshers are migratory birds and live in many seas around the world. They regularly move to areas at higher latitudes to enter warmer waters. Thresher sharks are strong, fast swimmers and mainly eat bony fish. They use their long tails to attack and take out their prey. Communal threshers are caught by commercial fishermen as they are highly sought after for their meat. They are also a prized prize by anglers for their strength and the fight they put up. Common Thresher sharks are a vulnerable species due to fishing pressure on populations.
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