Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Sharks

Weighing up to several tons, whale sharks are also notable for their markings. Each pattern of spots is unique and scientists identify individual fish using computer programs first developed to study star constellations.

Swimming With Whale Sharks

Wildlife researchers and tourists are heading to a tiny Mexican village to learn about the mystery of the largest fish in the sea

There are 50 to 70 reported shark attacks on humans each year, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Stopping Sharks by Blasting Their Senses

Chemist and businessman Eric Stroud develops shark repellents to protect sharks from being ensnared in commercial fisheries

It may be hard to fathom, but many great white encounters with humans are investigative, not predatory. (A great white attacks a seal decoy in False Bay.) They’re just curious, Compagno says.

Forget Jaws, Now it’s … Brains!

Great white sharks are typecast, say experts. The creatures are socially sophisticated and, yes, smart

None

Sense and Sensitivity

Great whites have tiny brains but powerful sensory organs

Some mostly solitary species (such as these whitetip reef sharks near Costa Rica) gather to feed or mate.

Shark

Recent attacks on people off the Florida coast are a reminder of the animal’s fierce nature. Yet scientists say the predator is itself in grave danger

Page 11 of 11