Blue Shark fun fact

By 20/11/2017Fish, Ι Education

Blue sharks get their name from their blueish skin. They have a slim body, long fins and a cone snout with triangular teeth, and is the most distributed shark in the world. They go everywhere except in the Antarctic ocean and as pelagic sharks, they are often spotted just below the surface of deep waters. However, the shark does prefer cold waters near squids breeding grounds, where they can hunt.

They are known to migrate long distances from the Pacific to the Atlantic and back again, in search for food. If squid is not available, they consume cuttlefish, lobsters, octopus, shrimps, crabs, smaller sharks and bony fish. But, blue sharks are also scavengers, meaning, they feed on dead animal rests like dead whales and dolphins.

Blue shark close up © Andy Murch/ Elasmodiver.org

 

Female blue sharks are larger than males, because they must be big enough to carry pups. The larger the female, the more pups she is likely to have. The largest blue shark ever caught was 3.8m. however females max. size is usually up to 3.3 m.

The female also wins when it comes to the skin; females have 3 times thicker skin than males, because males bite in their skin during the mating process.

Blue shark diving at Princess Alice Bank in the Azores © Andy Murch/ bigfishexpeditions.com

 

They do often end up as by-catch in fishing gear or lost nets. Also, in some places in the world they are still being hunted for their fins and processed in soup. Luckily, the blue shark is not an endangered species in general, however, in some places in the world like the Mediterranean sea, they are critically endangered due to overfishing. So in a global point of view, this species is threatened, which means that the population is going down but it is not critically (yet).

 

Milou

About Milou

Milou is Marine Biologist, and was Marine Wildlife Guide at TERRA AZUL from 2010 to 2019. She is from Holland, and is passionate about being out in the ocean with wildlife, informing visitors, and collecting field imagery and data for local Cetaceans and Sea Turtles Research & Conservation projects.

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