Fish, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 26, 2023

Critically endangered hammerhead shark found dead on US beach was pregnant with 40 pups

A massive hammerhead shark that recently washed up dead on a beach in Alabama was carrying 40 unborn pups, a necropsy (animal autopsy) has revealed. But it is unclear what killed the expectant mother. The female great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran), which measured around 14 feet (4.3 meters) long, was discovered...

May 5, 2023

What is the oldest shark?

Sharks are often called living fossils, and for good reason: The first sharks appeared in the fossil record roughly 450 million years ago and have lived through all five mass extinctions, including the one that wiped out the nonavian dinosaurs. In addition to being long-lived as a group, individual sharks...

May 9, 2023

Weird demon shark with bright white eyes discovered off Australia

A new species of deep-sea shark with bright white eyes has finally been identified, decades after a dead pregnant female of the species was first collected off the coast of Western Australia. The ghost shark was initially misidentified, and was only pegged as a new species after scientists took a...

May 10, 2023

What is the deadliest shark attack ever recorded?

Shark attacks are extremely rare — you're unlikely to meet one in the flesh, let alone be bitten. But during World War II, the sinking of a U.S. Navy ship led to one of the most infamous shark attacks in history and the deaths of hundreds of men, with the...

May 17, 2023

Shark launches 3 attacks on surfer in Australia, in deadly and 'atypical' encounter

A shark in Australia has attacked and likely killed a man after repeatedly biting the victim and dragging him underwater. Eyewitnesses reported that the shark returned to the victim three times — an atypical behavior in what was already a rare attack. Simon Baccanello, a 46-year-old teacher, was surfing off...

May 23, 2023

Watch a great white shark devour a seal off the coast of Cape Cod, shocking nearby whale watchers

A whale watching tour group off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, got the view of a lifetime when a great white shark swam up to the boat and proceeded to attack and eat a seal — and the entire grisly scene was caught on video. The predation event unfolded over...

Jun 9, 2023

Great white sharks have almost no interest in eating humans, study confirms

Humans and juvenile great white sharks swim in the same waters nearly every single day along some beaches in southern California, a new study has found. Yet bites remain rare. “I think what we've finally done is put a nail in the coffin for the old myth that if you're...

Jun 16, 2023

Rare 1,760-pound goblin shark pregnant with 6 pups trawled up from Taiwan waters

A trawler has landed a 1,760-pound (800 kilograms) goblin shark pregnant with six pups off the northeast coast of Taiwan — the largest goblin shark ever caught in those waters. The fishers who hauled the unusual-looking shark from the depths on Tuesday (June 13) originally planned to sell their catch...

Jun 19, 2023

Watch 1st-ever footage of whale shark eating from the bottom of the ocean

A whale shark has been filmed appearing to feed by scrounging around on the bottom of the ocean — the first time this behavior has ever been documented in this giant fish. Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are the biggest species of shark on Earth, growing up to 60 feet (18...

Jun 22, 2023

Record-breaking 63,300 pounds of illegal shark fins seized in Brazil

Federal authorities in Brazil seized more than 63,200 pounds (28,700 kilograms) of shark fins on Monday (June 19) in what may be the world's largest-ever confiscations of illegal shark fins, according to officials at Ibama, a federal agency under Brazil's Ministry of the Environment. Shark finning is the practice of...

Jun 27, 2023

Meg 2: The Trench – Everything we know about the giant shark and its return to the silver screen

Megalodons, dinosaurs and giant octopuses, oh my! The sequel to 2018’s surprise hit The Meg emerges from the oceanic depths this summer, and it’s coming with a handful of surprises, including not one, not two, but three ginormous megalodons wreaking havoc! In order to get you prepared for this exciting...

Jun 30, 2023

Great whites are dining on other sharks instead of seals, researchers discover in NatGeo show

Great white sharks off the coast of South Africa are feasting on other sharks — with these fish making up a larger proportion of their diet than seals, researchers have discovered. The great whites in Mossel Bay, known for their aerial attacks on prey and deadly clashes with orcas, appear...

Jul 1, 2023

'I knew it was circling me': Man attacked by shark was waiting to die, then dolphins saved his life

Martin Richardson was swimming in the Red Sea in Egypt when he was attacked by a mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). He was bitten approximately five times and was waiting to die when something unusual happened. There was no reason for the shark to stop, he said in Saved from a...

Jul 1, 2023

How to watch SharkFest 2023: National Geographic's month of shark-centric programming is back

If your shark fascination means that one week of shark shows isn't enough, then National Geographic's SharkFest 2023 has you covered. The four-week event from National Geographic is in its 11th year and is set to promise four weeks of explosive, hair raising and celebratory shark programming. Not stopping there,...

Jul 2, 2023

Great white sharks are moving north. New NatGeo SharkFest show explains why

Great white sharks were once rare in northern waters but are becoming an increasingly common sight. Until 2006, there had been just 32 recorded sightings of great white sharks off Canada's east coast, but the apex predators are now showing up there almost daily. To highlight the sharks' intriguing move,...