Spectacular Shark Pictures Original source: http://ocean.si.edu/spectacular-shark-pictures Sharks are one of nature’s most beautiful—and misunderstood—creatures. When most people think of sharks, they think of unexpecting swimmers being attacked and eaten by a nightmarish creature. But what they don’t know is that many sharks are more afraid of us than we are of them. The sharks that come close are probably curious about why such a long-finned animal—a person—that they’ve never seen before is splashing around in their ocean. Wouldn’t you want to check it out too? Go ahead and check out these sharks in this slideshow of some of the best photographs of these amazing animals. Oceanic Whitetip Shark The oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) is usually observed offshore in deep, warm waters throughout the world. The common length is about 270 cm (approximately 9 ft), but much larger oceanic whitetips have been recorded, one measuring 396 cm (approximately 13 ft). This once abundant and widespread shark faces serious population declines, due to fishing pressures. They are particularly sought after for their large fins which are used in shark fin soup.

Credit: © Brian Skerry

Great White Shark at Surfact Great white sharks are are marvels of evolution, with highly-evolved senses keeping them among the ocean’s top predators. Their biggest (and, perhaps, only) threat is people. Great whites are often portrayed as terrifying man-killers, which makes them a target for sport fishing and trophy hunters, who don't understand that humans do far more damage to sharks than sharks do to humans.

Credit: © Michael Rutzen Face to Face with a Tiger Shark 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 Bahamas.

Credit: © Mark Conlin

Blue Shark Named for the radiant blue color on its back and sides, the blue shark (Prionace glauca) traverses the world’s temperate and tropical seas. Known for traveling great distances and being a swift predator, blue sharks feed on squid, bony fish, and marine mammal carrion . However fast the blue shark may be, its numbers are declining due to bycatch, sport and commercial fisheries, and illegal poaching. Credit: © Brian Skerry

Grey Reef Shark 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.

Credit: Tobias Friedrich

The Cat-Like Eyes of a Catshark Like other catsharks, the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) is named for the elongated, cat-like shape of its eyes. But all sharks have cat-like eyes—in a different way. Like cats, sharks have a layer of reflective cells behind their retina called the tapetum lucidum. This layer allows them to see better in dark and cloudy waters, in the deep sea or at night. (The small hole behind its eye is a spiracle, through which water passes to the shark's gills to allow it to breathe.)

Credit: João Pedro Silva Caribbean Reef Shark Living in warm shallow waters often near coral reefs in the Western Atlantic, from Florida to Brazil, the Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi) is the most abundant shark in the Caribbean. It feeds mostly on bony fishes and rarely attacks humans. Despite the shark's abundance in some regions, it has a high mortality rate from bycatch and is sought by commercial fisheries for its fins and meat. It is illegal to catch Caribbean reef sharks in U.S. waters.

Credit: © Brian Skerry

Shortfin Mako Shark 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 fastest known species of shark. These qualities make the shortfin mako a prized catch among recreational fisherman. The mako is also sought by commercial fisheries for the production of shark fin soup, leather, and oils, and is often caught unintentionally as bycatch.

Credit: © Brian Skerry The Cookie-Cutter Shark I want snack, so give me cookie! The cookie cutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis) is as fearless as they come! This small, 20-inch shark can take on giants like whales and larger sharks, and have even been known to mistakenly try to bite submarines. Cookie cutter sharks approach their victims from below, latch on with their suction cup style lips, bite and then twist. A nice, round hole is left as a souvenir. As frightening as they seem, they do not pose a threat to humans.

Credit: Jennifer Strotman / Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Shark Teeth Collection 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.

Credit: © Robert Purdy Young Lemon Shark Swims Through Mangroves Female lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) leave their pups in shallow, coastal waters, and they live in these reef and mangrove nurseries for up to four years. As adults, they move to deeper waters of up to about 90 meters (295 feet) deep.

Credit: © Brian Skerry

Shark Denticles Shark skin is covered by tiny flat V-shaped scales, called dermal denticles, that are more like teeth than fish scales. These denticles decrease drag and turbulence, allowing the shark to swim faster and more quietly.

Credit: © Trevor Sewell Dwarf Lantern Shark 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 of South America. Like other lantern sharks, the dwarf lantern shark has light-emitting organs called photophores along its belly and fins. These help them camouflage when they feed in shallower water: the lit-up belly blends in with sunlight streaming down from above. In darker water, the light attracts smaller animals, which the shark preys upon.

Credit: © Chip Clark

Breaching Great White Shark on the Hunt 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. Swimming fast at the surface, sharks can reach 40 miles per hour and fly 10 feet into the air; however, breaching is relatively rare because the shark has to use so much energy to propel itself.

Credit: © Morne Hardenberg Hammerhead Shark at Sunset Scientists debate the purpose behind these sharks' hammer-shaped heads. A commonly accepted theory is that the shape allows the shark to scan a wider area of the ocean through its sensory organs. Of the eight species of hammerheads, the great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran) is the largest, reaching a maximum length of 6.1m (20 ft). Hammerheads are highly sought after for their fins, suffer a very high mortality rate from bycatch, and reproduce only every two years.

Credit: © Brian Skerry

Baby Sharks in Lagoon 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.

Credit: © Thomas Peschak The Friendly Whale Shark The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth. They spend most of their lives in the deep water up to 200 meters or more, but swim up to the surface to gather food and warm their bodies. In Kwatisore—located in Cenderawasih Bay National Park, Papua, Indonesia—they interact with bagans (fishing platforms on the water's surface), which provide ikan puri (anchovy), a staple in their diet. Despite their size, they only eat small fish and even tinier plankton.

Credit: Edy Setyawan