How to Identify a Saltwater Shark

Identify Atlantic Sharpnose, Blacknose, Blacktip, Blue and Bonnethead Sharks

• 1

  Identify the Atlantic Sharpnose by its olive-brown coloring with white belly and white spots on its sides. The snout is flattened and long containing notched teeth.

• 2

  Note that the Blacknose is relatively small compared to most sharks. Often confused with Lemon Sharks, they have the same gray to brown coloring; with the exception of a black spot on its nose, thus the name Blacknose.

• 3

  Determine the silver strip on the side of the Blacktip shark. They are brown and blue-gray on the back with a white belly. They don't account for a very large number of human attacks, but can be dangerous when provoked.

• 4

  Consider the name of the Blue Shark and you'll have your identifying clue. The Blue Shark is a bright blue color over its entire body and fins with the exception of its white face and belly.

• 5

  Understand the smooth look for this hammerhead, the Bonnethead, and you'll see the differences. Mostly brown in coloring and grayish on the belly, this shark is seldom longer than three feet.

Identify Great White, Greater Hammerhead, Mako, Porbeagle and Sandbar Sharks

• 6

  Know the Great White name and you know that this shark is the most notorious of all. Often depicted in movies, this variety has gotten a bad reputation. They can get up to 2,000 pounds and are the largest of all predatory sharks. They have a grayish color over their entire body with a white belly. They also have triangular teeth and a pointed nose.

• 7

  See the larger hammer shape to the head and you have spotted a hammerhead shark. The Greater Hammerhead has an overall grayish coloring with possible whitish areas on the face and sides. The slightly notched center of the head distinguishes this shark from other hammerheads.

• 8

  Choose to fish for shark in temperate waters and you may find the Mako. It is a deep gray-blue on the sides with a white belly. After death those colors wash out in a mucky gray on the belly and slightly darker shade on the body.

• 9

  Notice the cylindrical, pointed snout of the Porbeagle Shark. It is gray in color with white coloring going up the middle of the tail fins. There is a darker spot on the caudal fin and the belly is mostly white.

• 10

  Measure a shark at six feet and you could have a Sandbar Shark. Named for their staying around beaches and more inshore than most sharks, they are brown in coloring with a whitish belly. Their teeth are serrated and snout is short and rounded.

Identify Scalloped Hammerhead, Shortfin Mako and White Tip Sharks

• 11

  Evaluate the Scalloped Hammerhead and find that it is a hammerhead, but appears to resemble a common shark shape from the side. They are white on the belly and brownish-gray on the sides.

• 12

  Learn the Mako's well-proportioned body and conical snout. The dark blue coloring along the back and tail is paired with white sides and belly. Their teeth are like curved daggers with no serrated edges.

• 13

  Use the white tips on all fins to help determine the White Tip Shark; true to its name. The rest of the body is a gray coloring with a possible bluish stripe across the back. A smaller portion of the bottom of the belly is white and the slanted angle of its mouth gives it a permanently "disgusted" look.