Thresher Shark

Description:

The common thresher is one of the three thresher sharks. They have a short, conical snout, large eyes placed well forward on the head, and a husky, spindleshaped body. The first dorsal fin is much longer than the second. The broad pectoral fins are broad and sharp. The color of its body is gray-blue above. There are prominent labial furrows at the sides of the jaws.

Size:

This deep water shark is very big, are easily recognized by its long tail. Mature males grow to over 14 feet (half of which, is tail).

Geography:

It is distributed in Western and eastern Atlantic, Indo- West Pacific and Central Pacific.

FOOD:

The jaws are relatively small, with remarkably efficient small, sharp teeth for capturing cephalopods and schooling fishes. They use the long tail to slap the water surface, frightening prey into tight groups to make capture easier.

What we've learned:

The upper lobe of the tail is almost as long as the body section. This characteristic makes it very easy to separate the thresher from other shark species. these strong, active sharks have enough power to leap 15 - 20 feet out of the water.

The name "Thresher Shark" is derived from the method it uses to seize its prey. The shark whips its tail on schools of fish stunning them and quickly returns to eat its catch.

Though not known to attack man, two children were playing in the shallows on a British beach and were knocked over by a pair of Thresher sharks -- recorded as a shark attack but most likely the threshers were following a school of fish and the children accidentally got in their way since they were not injured. The Thresher has the ability to maintain a warmer inner body temperature than the surrounding water.