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THERE ARE MORE than 400 known species of sharks and they have been on earth for 420 million years. That’s about 415 million years longer than humans have been around!
Humans are afraid of sharks because they look scary and sometimes attack people. But sharks should be more afraid of us — a full quarter of all shark species have been hunted to extinction by humans.
So, to help you become more familiar with these beautiful but scary beasts, we’ve ranked the best of the sharks based on unusualness, leaving out all the boring ones.
Here we go…
17. The Goblin Shark: Not only is it the ugliest shark, it’s also the pinkest. At 3 metres (10 feet) long, the goblin looks terrifying. It lives near the shore, too. But don’t worry, it’s a slow swimmer and doesn’t eat humans.
16. The Sawshark: It’s got a saw for a nose! These 1.7 m (5.6 ft) sharks swim in schools and use their scary snouts to dig for prey in the sand.
15. The Frilled Shark: The frilled shark lives deep near the bottom of the ocean, avoiding the attention of the media. It gets its name from the six sets of frilly gills that sit like a collar behind its head. It has 300 teeth and grows up to 1.8m (6ft.)
14. Great White: The Manchester United of sharks — people like it because it’s popular. But it is neither the biggest, nor the most deadly, nor the most exotic of the sharks.
13. The Speartooth River Shark: This 6-footer makes our ranking because it can live in both salty AND fresh water — so even swimming in a river won’t keep you safe. They have been known to bite humans, too. If you can avoid the mangrove swamps of Northern Australia you’ll probably be fine.
12. The Cookiecutter Shark: Doesn’t look like much, given its small size. But guess how it gets its name? Its teeth are set in a circular jaw, so that when it bites you it takes out a cookie-shaped chunk of flesh.
11. The Wobbegong: This bottom-dwelling 1.2m (4ft) Australian carpet shark gets its name from the Aboriginal, meaning “shaggy beard.” The Aussies eat them in fish and chips.
10. The Megamouth Shark: There are only about 60 living specimens of this incredibly rare beast. They grow up to 5.5m (18ft) in length. They aren’t much of a threat though: They eat plankton and only swim at about 2mph.
9. Megalodon: OK, so this shark became extinct 2.6 million years ago — but it was the largest shark ever, at up to 30m (98ft) long. This is a picture of a megalodon eating two whales! The inset shows how its jaws could comfortably accommodate a human.
8. Tiger Shark: This shark will eat anything, including humans. One study found the remains of goats, horses, and even cats in the stomachs of tiger sharks. It even eats garbage!
7. The White Tip: If your ship sinks, this is the shark that will eat you: It is thought to be the most deadly shark to humans, having consumed several hundred survivors of the sinkings of both the USS Indianapolis and the Novia Scotia in World War 2. It swims under the radar, however, because it is a deep sea fish.
6. Angel Shark: Looks like a ray, acts like a catfish. The 1.5m (4ft) angel sits on the sandy bottom of the sea waiting for smaller fish to go by, and then it ambushes them. Bites divers too, but not fatally.
5. Thresher Shark: Threshers look cool for a reason – they use their tails to whip individual fish, stunning them so they can be eaten. Half the body length of a 6m / 20ft thresher is its rear fin.
4. The Horn Shark: If you want a shark as a pet then the gentle, sluggish horn shark is the way to go. It hangs out on the seabed, grazing on shellfish until its teeth turn purple. Sleeps during the day and comes out at night. Never strays more than 10 miles from its home.
3. Basking Shark: Okay, we might be bias by thinking that this should be number one as this creature is often seen off our own coast.
This 12m (39ft) long beast is the second-largest fish of any type and can be found off the coast of Ireland and Scotland — or anywhere in temperate waters where there is lots of plankton that it can filter through its massive mouth and gills.
Here’s a bonus video of one swimming with some bathers off the coast of Cork as featured in the upcoming film, Aonrú:
Lost Productions / Vimeo
2. The Hammerhead: Do NOT mess with a hammerhead. They can grow up to 6m (20ft) and have 360-degree vision. Now consider their sex life: “the male hammerhead shark will bite the female shark quite violently until she agrees to mate.”* They eat humans, too.
1. Whale Shark: The whale shark is indisputably the best shark. It’s the biggest at 13m (42ft) and the heaviest at 21 tonnes. It doesn’t eat humans and younger whale sharks sometimes “play” with divers. In Vietnam, whale sharks are worshipped as “ca-ong” gods. In the Philippines, the whale shark’s portrait adorns the 100-peso bill.
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Over 50 years since the first civil rights marches took place in the north and Irish citizens are still having to fight for their rights in Ireland. Bit by bit though, we are winning the fight.
@Johnny 5:
She obviously didn’t feel very strongly enough about her desire not to be a British citizen. It would have cost her £200 to have her British Citizenship revoked. So instead she went to court, lost and is still a British Citizen.
The fact that anyone born in Northern Ireland is a British citizen at birth, unless they actually renounce it, it still stands in UK law. They don’t have to act on it, or ever use their British citizenship, but it is always there.
On the other side of that coin, is that in Irish law, anyone born in Northern Ireland is an Irish Citizen by default, again they don’t have to act on it or ever use it but it is always there. I don’t know if there is a legal route in Ireland to renounce your Irish citizenship.
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: under the Good Friday Agreement she is entitled to both Irish & British citizenship,…. it was a legal issue as a result of Brexit with regard to her husband, a loophole that needed to be fixed of which there are many in both countries in unrelated matters… that crop up now and again.
And to prove my point that she is entitled to both UK & Irish citizenship as a result of the Good Friday Agreement I point to the New Zealand actor Sam Neill who was born in Northern Ireland and has both UK & Irish Citizenship.
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh:
Your understanding of the case is completely incorrect. Read up on it
It had nothing to do with Brexit. It was not a loophole. It was a very significant point of international law.
The GFA allows for people born in Northern Ireland to “identify” as British / Irish or both.
The UK’s stand was very logical and responsible: A child, born in Northern Ireland does not have the faculties to identify as an Irish citizen. If they were not considered a British citizen at birth, they would effectively be stateless. The UK government would then be in breach of its international obligations.
deSouza, and those funding her, had no chance of winning their case.
@Paul O’Sullivan: She was not trying to argue her entitlement to Irish or British citizenship
She was attempting to argue in law that she was “not” British by default.
@Paul O’Sullivan: Sorry Paul, the first comment was in response to you, obviously not to myself
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: You must be sickened at this news. You did everything you could to fight it. Ireland always had her traitors and that is as much the case today as ever. You sided with the British in another blatant infringement of an IRISH citizens rights. I hope when this island celebrates reunification that your friends tell you not to bother coming down to the pub to celebrate. You wont be welcome.
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: you ok hun?
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: it had everything to do with Brexit..
@Conan Campbell:
The complexities of this case are obviously beyond your capacity to understand it.
I am far more of an Irishman than someone who supports any organisation responsible for the murder of an Irish soldier, Irish Gardaí and Irish citizens. Here is a list of the Irish soldier and numerous Gardaí murdered by the traitorous organisations of the IRA and INLA.
Pte Patrick Kelly, Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, Garda Richard Fallon, Insp Samuel Donegan, Garda Michael Reynolds, Garda Michael Clerkin, Garda John Morley, Garda Henry Byrne, Garda James Quaid, Garda Patrick Reynold, Garda Patrick McLoughlin, Garda Gary Sheehan, Garda Francis Hand, Sgt Patrick Morrissey
@Paul O’Sullivan: Sorry Paul. The original case had absolutely nothing to do with Brexit. If you don’t believe me, read up on the case. Its a very interesting case.
What happened recently was different, and yes, was related to brexit. The UK government changed the immigration law so as to treat both Irish and British citizens born in Northern Ireland as EU citizens in respect getting residency for a non EU spouse. What that meant for the deSouzas was that her nationality was irrelevant to the immigration process.
What it meant for the court case was that the deSouzas now effectively have no legal standing to take the case, and the current UK law still stands in that a person born in Northern Ireland is regarded as a British Citizen at birth.
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: What has this to do with the topic. Ps you failed to mention Dublin Monaghan bombings which was supported and aided by British intelligence, Bloody Sunday, Murders in Ballymurphy, and many other innocent civilians murdered by loyalists and security forces..A bit of balance please .
Yes bit by bit indeed. Nothing irritates the British Gov more than the north of Ireland being discussed in the U.S Congress. London being Honest Brokers and all that.
There’s Hozier again
Does this mean that a baby born in NI to parents from NI (UK citizens) cannot automatically be conferred with British or Irish citizenship? Do we have to wait for the baby who can choose either citizenship? If the state can’t assign me citizenship without consent, should my parents be able to? They might be high-ranking members of the DUP, but how do they know the baby doesn’t think it’s Irish? They might be infringing the childs rights to be an Irish citizen and not be British.
@Conall:
They are still automatically regarded as British Citizens in UK law. They are also regarded as Irish Citizens in Irish law.
The Good Friday Agreement allows for a person born in Northern Ireland to identify as Irish, British or both. It does not allow for their parents or guardians to make that identification for them.
There is nothing to signify at what age a person is capable of making that identification, it would need to be tested in court.
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