Great white shark
Carcharodon carcharias
Temperate and subtropical coastal waters of every major ocean — commonest where seals gather.
to 6.1 mVulnerable
Shark species library
How big they get, where they live, how far they travel — and where they have actually been seen.
PierMonkey’s world map carries community shark sightings, refreshed every three hours from research-grade iNaturalist records. This library is the other half of that: click a fin on the map and you can read about the animal; read about the animal here and you can go and see where it has turned up.
Sharks are in far more trouble than they are trouble. More than a third of shark and ray species are now threatened with extinction, driven almost entirely by fishing. These pages try to be accurate about that, and accurate about risk — which is much smaller than reputation suggests.
40
species covered
500+
shark species worldwide
3 hrs
sighting refresh
1 in 3
threatened with extinction
How big is that, really?
A person (1.7 m)
1.7 m
Port Jackson shark
1.65 m
Great white shark
6.1 m
Whale shark
18.8 m
Basking shark
12 m
Tiger shark
5.5 m
Bull shark
4 m
Great hammerhead shark
6.1 m
Shortfin mako shark
4.45 m
Blue shark
3.8 m
Greenland shark
6.4 m
Leopard shark
2.1 m
Nurse shark
3.08 m
Atlantic sharpnose shark
1.1 m
Blacktip reef shark
1.8 m
Blacktip shark
2.55 m
Blind shark
1.2 m
Bonnethead shark
1.5 m
Brown-banded bamboo shark
1.32 m
Common thresher shark
5.73 m
Dusky smooth-hound
1.5 m
Epaulette shark
1.07 m
Grey reef shark
2.55 m
Horn shark
1.2 m
Lemon shark
3.4 m
Nursehound
1.6 m
Oceanic whitetip shark
3.5 m
Pacific spiny dogfish
1.4 m
Puffadder shyshark
0.6 m
Sand tiger shark
3.2 m
Sandbar shark
2.5 m
Scalloped hammerhead shark
4.3 m
School shark
1.95 m
Sicklefin lemon shark
3.8 m
Small-spotted catshark
1 m
Smooth hammerhead shark
4 m
Spiny dogfish
2 m
Spotted wobbegong
3.2 m
Tawny nurse shark
3.2 m
Whitetip reef shark
2.13 m
Zebra shark
2.46 m
Maximum reliably recorded length. Rose marks the large or potentially dangerous species the map flags as notable.
Mackerel sharks
Lamniformes — the warm-bodied hunters. They keep their muscles above sea temperature, which is why this group contains the fastest shark, the largest predatory shark and the longest-lived vertebrate known.
Basking shark
Cetorhinus maximus
Cool temperate seas of both hemispheres — inshore in summer, deep and offshore the rest of the year.
to 12 mEndangered
Shortfin mako shark
Isurus oxyrinchus
Open ocean worldwide, temperate to tropical — but concentrated in a narrow 17–22 °C band.
to 4.45 mEndangered
Common thresher shark
Alopias vulpinus
Temperate and tropical seas worldwide — but usually over the continental shelf, not far out in the blue.
to 5.73 mVulnerable
Sand tiger shark
Carcharias taurus
Warm and temperate coasts of every ocean except the eastern Pacific — and absent there completely.
to 3.2 mCritically Endangered
Requiem sharks
Carcharhinidae — the classic shark silhouette, and the family most people picture. Mostly warm-water, mostly live-bearing, and between them responsible for most shark sightings anywhere near a coast.
Tiger shark
Galeocerdo cuvier
Tropical and warm-temperate seas worldwide — essentially every warm ocean except the Mediterranean.
to 5.5 mNear Threatened
Bull shark
Carcharhinus leucas
Warm, shallow coastal water worldwide — plus estuaries, rivers and at least one lake.
to 4 mVulnerable
Blue shark
Prionace glauca
Open ocean everywhere — from sub-Arctic seas to the tropics, in every ocean plus the Mediterranean.
to 3.8 mNear Threatened
Atlantic sharpnose shark
Rhizoprionodon terraenovae
The warm western Atlantic — New Brunswick to the Yucatán, and common from Virginia round the Gulf of Mexico to Texas.
to 1.1 mLeast Concern
Blacktip reef shark
Carcharhinus melanopterus
The tropical Indo-Pacific — Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii and the Tuamotus, Japan south to Australia.
to 1.8 mVulnerable
Blacktip shark
Carcharhinus limbatus
Warm coastal seas worldwide — in the Americas from New England to Brazil and from Baja California to Peru.
to 2.55 mVulnerable
Grey reef shark
Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos
Indo-Pacific coral reefs — forereef drop-offs, atoll passes and lagoons with current.
to 2.55 mEndangered
Lemon shark
Negaprion brevirostris
Warm shallow coasts on three fronts — New Jersey to southern Brazil, West Africa, and Baja California to Ecuador.
to 3.4 mVulnerable
Oceanic whitetip shark
Carcharhinus longimanus
Warm open ocean worldwide, roughly 30° N to 35° S — out past the shelf edge, rarely anywhere near a beach.
to 3.5 mCritically Endangered
Sandbar shark
Carcharhinus plumbeus
Warm-temperate and tropical coasts worldwide — Massachusetts to Brazil, Portugal to the Congo, the Red Sea to Hawaii.
to 2.5 mEndangered
Sicklefin lemon shark
Negaprion acutidens
The tropical Indo-Pacific — Red Sea and East Africa to French Polynesia, north to Taiwan, south to Australia.
to 3.8 mEndangered
Whitetip reef shark
Triaenodon obesus
Coral reefs right across the Indo-Pacific, plus a separate eastern Pacific block at Cocos, the Galápagos and Central America.
to 2.13 mVulnerable
Hammerheads
Sphyrnidae — the cephalofoil spreads their electrical sensors across a wider search area, like sweeping a metal detector instead of pointing it.
Great hammerhead shark
Sphyrna mokarran
Warm coastal and semi-oceanic water worldwide, roughly 40° N to 37° S.
to 6.1 mCritically Endangered
Bonnethead shark
Sphyrna tiburo
Warm, shallow inshore water of the Americas — the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts south to Brazil, and southern California to Ecuador.
to 1.5 mEndangered
Scalloped hammerhead shark
Sphyrna lewini
Warm temperate and tropical coastal and semi-oceanic water worldwide, from muddy inshore bays out to offshore seamounts.
to 4.3 mCritically Endangered
Smooth hammerhead shark
Sphyrna zygaena
Temperate seas worldwide, roughly 59° N to 55° S, with nurseries in cool coastal bays.
to 4 mVulnerable
Carpet sharks
Orectolobiformes — bottom-dwellers and filter-feeders, from the camouflaged wobbegongs to the largest fish in the sea.
Whale shark
Rhincodon typus
Tropical and warm-temperate seas worldwide except the Mediterranean — mostly open ocean, with a handful of predictable coastal feeding sites.
to 18.8 mEndangered
Nurse shark
Ginglymostoma cirratum
The Atlantic only — Rhode Island to southern Brazil in the west, Cape Verde to Gabon in the east.
to 3.08 mVulnerable
Blind shark
Brachaelurus waddi
Endemic to the east coast of Australia — southern Queensland to the far south coast of New South Wales.
to 1.2 mLeast Concern
Brown-banded bamboo shark
Chiloscyllium punctatum
Shallow inshore waters of the tropical Indo-West Pacific — India and the Andamans east to the Philippines, north to Japan, south to northern Australia.
to 1.32 mNear Threatened
Epaulette shark
Hemiscyllium ocellatum
Shallow coral reef flats of the Great Barrier Reef, from Cape York south to the Capricorn Group.
to 1.07 mLeast Concern
Spotted wobbegong
Orectolobus maculatus
Endemic to Australia — North West Cape in Western Australia round the south and up to southern Queensland.
to 3.2 mLeast Concern
Tawny nurse shark
Nebrius ferrugineus
Tropical Indo-Pacific — the Red Sea and East Africa east to the Tuamotus, southern Japan to northern Australia.
to 3.2 mVulnerable
Zebra shark
Stegostoma tigrinum
The tropical Indo-West Pacific — Red Sea and East Africa to New Caledonia and Fiji, southern Japan to New South Wales.
to 2.46 mEndangered
Ground sharks
The catsharks, houndsharks and their relatives: small, common, mostly harmless, and the sharks you are most likely to actually meet.
Leopard shark
Triakis semifasciata
Eastern North Pacific only — Oregon south to Mazatlán, Mexico, including the Gulf of California.
to 2.1 mLeast Concern
Dusky smooth-hound
Mustelus canis
Western Atlantic only — Bay of Fundy to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, and southern Brazil to Argentina.
to 1.5 mNear Threatened
Nursehound
Scyliorhinus stellaris
Rocky ground in the northeast Atlantic from southern Scandinavia and Shetland to Senegal, plus the Mediterranean — with its stronghold around Britain and Ireland.
to 1.6 mVulnerable
Puffadder shyshark
Haploblepharus edwardsii
Endemic to South Africa: one stretch of coast from Langebaan Lagoon in the Western Cape east to Algoa Bay.
to 0.6 mEndangered
School shark
Galeorhinus galeus
Cool and warm temperate seas worldwide — Europe to South Africa, southern Brazil to Argentina, British Columbia to Chile, southern Australia and New Zealand.
to 1.95 mCritically Endangered
Small-spotted catshark
Scyliorhinus canicula
Northeast Atlantic from Norway to West Africa, plus the Mediterranean — and the commonest shark in British and Irish waters.
to 1 mLeast Concern
Bullhead & horn sharks
Heterodontiformes — blunt-headed reef sharks with crushing back teeth and the strangest eggs in the ocean: drill-bit spirals wedged into rock.
Port Jackson shark
Heterodontus portusjacksoni
Endemic to southern Australia — Byron Bay round to the Houtman Abrolhos, Tasmania included.
to 1.65 mLeast Concern
Horn shark
Heterodontus francisci
Eastern Pacific only — central California south to Baja California and the Gulf of California.
to 1.2 mLeast Concern
Dogfish & cold-water sharks
Squaliformes and friends — deep, cold and slow-growing. The most heavily fished sharks on earth, and the least talked about.
Greenland shark
Somniosus microcephalus
Cold, deep water of the Arctic and the North Atlantic — Canada and Greenland east to the Barents Sea.
to 6.4 mVulnerable
Pacific spiny dogfish
Squalus suckleyi
North Pacific only — Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk round through the Bering Sea to Baja California.
to 1.4 mLeast Concern
Spiny dogfish
Squalus acanthias
Cool seas almost everywhere except the North Pacific and the Southern Ocean — both sides of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Black Sea, southern Africa, southern Australia, New Zealand and Chile.
to 2 mVulnerable
Where these sightings come from
Every fin on our map is a research-grade iNaturalist observation: someone photographed a shark, uploaded it, and the community agreed on the identification. That makes the data honest about what it is — a record of where people looked and what they found, not a survey of the ocean. Where iNaturalist blurs a threatened species’ position, the marker is drawn hollow and labelled approximate.
It is community science, not a beach-safety service. Open the live map →
How to help sharks
- The Shark Trustgood for kidsReport eggcases and sightings, join campaigns, download free ID guides.
- Great Eggcase Huntgood for kidsWalk a beach, find a mermaid’s purse, log it. Over 630,000 eggcases recorded since 2003 — the easiest real science a family can do.
- Sharks4Kidsgood for kidsFree classroom lessons, virtual field trips and activity packs for teachers and parents.
- Save Our Seas FoundationFunds shark research and education worldwide; publishes what each project found.
- Shark StewardsCampaigns to end the shark fin trade and establish shark sanctuaries.
- OceanaPolicy campaigning on fisheries management and bycatch — the thing that actually kills sharks.
- IUCN Shark Specialist GroupThe scientists behind the Red List assessments. For older readers who want the primary source.
Common questions
How many kinds of shark are there?▾
More than 500 described species, and new ones are still being named. They range from the dwarf lanternshark, which fits in a hand, to the whale shark at up to 18 metres. Most are small, most live near the bottom, and most will never encounter a person.
Which is the biggest shark?▾
The whale shark — the largest fish alive, reaching around 18 metres. It is a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish. The largest predatory shark is the great white, at about 6 metres.
Which is the fastest shark?▾
The shortfin mako, capable of burst speeds around 70 km/h. It is warm-bodied, like the great white and the porbeagle, which is what allows the muscle power.
Are sharks dangerous to people?▾
Very rarely. Worldwide there are roughly 60 unprovoked bites a year from all species combined, and fewer than ten are fatal. By contrast tens of millions of sharks are killed each year by fishing, mostly as bycatch. More than a third of shark and ray species are now threatened with extinction.
Where do the sightings on the map come from?▾
From iNaturalist — photographs uploaded by divers, fishers, beachgoers and researchers, which become "research grade" once the community agrees on the identification. We refresh them every three hours. Where the source blurs a protected species’ exact position, we show the marker as approximate.
How can I help sharks?▾
Record what you see: a research-grade iNaturalist observation is real data that scientists use, and it is what puts a fin on our map. Beyond that, the Shark Trust’s Great Eggcase Hunt turns a beach walk into a survey, and Sharks4Kids runs free classroom material.
See where sharks are turning up — free, on the live map
The map and live conditions are open to everyone. A free account unlocks full 16-day forecasts and custom swell alerts.