What species of shark are in the canaries?

Answer 1

There are many shark species in waters of Canary islands.

Most of them do not approach the coast, so swimming near the beaches is as safe - or dangerous - as any other european shallow waters.

That area of the Atlantic Ocean, being a combination of the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea is abundant in fish, and sharks have fish in their menu...

The list of shark species in the Spanish Canary Islands waters is vast, so I will list only some of the most well-known species:

- Begining with the great white (Carcharodon carcharias), which are always a potencial danger to divers.

- The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), although many people belive it is a freshwater shark, can also be found in these salt waters between Morocco and Canary islands. Extreme care is advised to divers!

- Tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) are very rare.

- The portuguese shark (Centroscymnus coelolepis) is perhaps the most common species in these waters, but they are a deepest-living shark species.

- The nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) is also common, and in shallow waters. It may reach sizes up to 5 meters, but they are slow-swimmers, and not a threat to careful divers and swimmers.

- The oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) is always a to consider with great respect.

- The great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) may be a very large and dangerous shark, and it can be found in near land waters in Canary islands.

- Smaller species of hammerheads, like (Sphyrna lewini) are very common in these Atlantic waters, but they are not considered dangerous, and are normally not aggressive towards humans.

Note: This shark is very common in portuguese Algarve waters, and it was my only encounter with a shark during my amateur diver activity. It swimmed slowly around me, curious and keeping distance.

Useless to say I get back to my father's boat, which was anchored about 5 miles from the coastline.