Sharks & Rays
Information about Sharks:
Sharks are a predatory fish that can be encountered in nearly every part of the world’s oceans. These members of the class Chondrichthyes do not have bones, but rather have cartilaginous skeletons in their streamline bodies. Their teeth therefore are embedded in the gums, and over the course of a lifetime are replaced over and over. They are an ancient species and can be traced back about 420 million years ago. There are about 440 different species of sharks alive today, the smallest being the dwarf laternshark (about 7 inches long) and the massive whale shark which can grow to an astonishing 40 feet.
Most sharks are exclusively saltwater although occasionally some species can venture into freshwater or brackish water. There is a famous incident in 1926 in which a Great White Shark, for reasons unknown, heading upstream many miles into a river in New Jersey where it attacked and killed a number of humans. But the vast majority of sharks pose little or no threat to humans. Sharks have an excellent sense of smell. Some species are able to detect blood in as little as one part per million in seawater.
Basking Shark – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the Basking Shark:
The Basking Shark is the second largest living fish on the planet, after the whale shark. It is a migratory species, found in all the world's temperate oceans. It is a slow moving filter feeder and has anatomical adaptations to filter feeding, such as a greatly enlarged mouth and highly developed gill rakers. The shape of its snout is conical and the gill slits extend around the top and bottom of its head. The gill rakers are dark and bristle-like and are used to catch plankton as water filters through the mouth and over the gills. The basking shark is usually greyish-brown in color with mottled skin. The caudal (tail) fin has a strong lateral keel and a crescent shape. The teeth of the basking shark are very small and numerous and often number one hundred per row. The teeth themselves have a single conical cusp, are curved backwards and are the same on both the upper and lower jaws. Basking sharks are a migrating species and are believed to overwinter in deep waters. They may occur in either small schools or alone. Small schools in the Bay of Fundy and the Hebrides have been seen swimming nose to tail in circles in what may be a form of mating behavior. Despite their large size and threatening appearance, basking sharks are not aggressive and are harmless to people. The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
Bat Ray – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the Bat Ray:
The Bat Ray is a is a stingray found in muddy estuaries and bays, kelp beds and rocky-bottomed shoreline in the eastern Pacific Ocean, usually along the coastline from the Gulf of California up to Oregon. They can live in waters with various levels of saline, so they are able to venture far into brackish waters searching for food. Bat Rays feed on a variety of sea animals, such as crustaceans, mollusks and small fish. They beat their large pectoral fins (or "wings") along the sandy bottoms of the ocean to expose their prey. Like other rays, they have a sharp stinger in their tails, which can be used to defend itself against potential predators. Bat Rays are fairly placid animals and are very popular in ocean themed parks (such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium) and will tolerate being touched by humans. The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
Black-Tipped Reef Shark – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the Blacktip Reef Shark:
The Black-Tipped - or Blacktip - reef shark is a requiem shark and a member of the family Carcharhinidae. The prominent tips of black on the fins give this shark it's common name. These fish inhabit the tropical coral reefs of the Pacific and Indian oceans and along with the Grey-Tipped and White-Tipped they are among the third most common sharks found in their environments. They are medium-sized sharks, reaching about 5 feet in length. While generally not considered dangerous to humans, occasional nips do happen to bathers in shallow waters if food is present. The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
Blotched Fantail Ray – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the Blotched Fantail Ray:
The Blotched Fantail Ray is a member of the family Dasyatidae. It has many names, including black spotted ray, black-blotched stingray, black-spotted stingray, fantail ray, fantail stingray, giant reef ray, blotched fantail ray, and speckled stingray. These rays are native to the tropical Indo-Pacific, as well as off islands in the eastern Pacific, usually not far from shore. It is a bottom-dwelling inhabitant of lagoons, estuaries, and reefs, generally at a depth of 66-200 feet (20–60 meters. Adults grow to about 6 feet across (2 meters.) Like many other rays, the Blotched Fantail is mostly nocturnal, usually remaining buried during the daylight hours, and emerging to hunt in the night. It is not usually afraid of divers and will approach them occasionally. While not dangerous, if threatened or seized it can unleash a potentially fatal sting from it's tail. They are considered "vulnerable" by the IUCN. The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
Blue Shark – Signed Fine Art Print
Fine art illustration of a Blue Shark (Prionace glauca.)
The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality:
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil
• Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²)
• Opacity: 94%
Buy a Digital Download
Blue-Spotted Ray – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the Blue-Spotted Ray:
The Blue-Spotted Ray - also called the Blue-spotted Maskray or Blue-Spotted Stingray - is native to the sandy bottoms near rocky or coral reefs, and in shallow lagoons. These rays live alone or in small groups. They're fairly common in sandy bays of South East Asia and throughout the Indo Pacific from the Red Sea to Japan and south to Australia. The large tail spine of the blue spot stingray is dangerous and deadly. The barbs in the tail are so large, people have bled to death from a sting. When feeding, the Blue-spotted ray waits for the tide to raise, then small groups swarm into shallow, sandy reef flats, looking for worms, crustaceans, mollusks and small fish. After they eat, they settle under the sand to rest in coral caves or on the reef bottom. The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
Bowmouth Guitarfish – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the Bowmouth Guitarfish:
The Bowmouth Guitarfish - also called the Shark Ray or Mud Skate - is the sole member of the family Rhinidae. One reason for this is that the evolutionary development of this fish have not been quite worked out. They are one of the larger rays, reaching lengths of nearly 9 feet (2.9 meters) and weighing about 300 pounds (135 kg.) It is a heavy built fish with a very unusual shape, with the resemblance to the common musical instrument giving it part of it's popular name. These fish prefer to stay near the bottom, ideally in muddy waters or in underwater structures. These fish are considered "vulnerable" due to the fact that they are highly prized for the exotic dish shark fin soup. It has become a symbol of the various ocean animals threatened by human activity it sometimes referred to the as the "Panda of the Aquatic World." The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
Bull Shark – Signed Fine Art Print
Fine art illustration of a Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas.)
The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality:
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
California Horn Shark – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the California Horn Shark:
The California Horn Shark is found in the warm temperate and sub-tropical waters along the Pacific continental shelf, occurring off the west coast of the U.S.A., from Monterey Bay south to California, and off Mexico, where it occurs around Baja California and in the Gulf of California. The shark prefers cave, rock crevices, sandy areas and kelp beds, usually found in depths around 6 to 33 feet (2-11 meters.) It has a distinctive, pig-like snout and tends to stay close to the bottom. Unlike other sharks, the Horn Shark is somewhat sluggish, spending most of the daylight hidden in crags or otherwise concealed in rocks until the nighttime when it comes out to hunt. It uses the powerful suction of it's mouth to capture prey, then a strong jaw to crush it. The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
California Swell Shark – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the California Swell Shark:
The California Swell Shark - also called the Balloon Shark or simply Swellshark - is native to the continental sea shelves, kelp forests and shallow inshore reefs, sometimes wedged into a rock crevice during the day emerging at night to hunt for food such as small bony fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. They are not dangerous to humans, and will avoid contact with divers by remaining in their hiding spots, even swelling up to make sure they are not dislodged. This defense of inflating itself to become larger is also useful in avoiding predators, making them too large for some predators to attack. The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
Caribbean Reef Shark – Signed Fine Art Print
Information about the Caribbean Reef Shark:
The Caribbean Reef Shark is a species of "requiem" shark native to the tropical waters of the Western Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Brazil. They are larger sharks and can grow to nearly 10 feet long (3.2 meters) but more commonly it maxes out at about 6.5-8 feet (2-2.5 m.) It is considered an apex predator of their marine environment and feeds on nearly all available prey, such as fish and cephalopods. Normally shy or indifferent to the presence of divers, the Caribbean reef shark has been known to become aggressive in the presence of food and grows sufficiently large to be considered potentially dangerous. As of 2008, the International Shark Attack File lists 27 attacks attributable to this species, 4 of them unprovoked, and none fatal. The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality: • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil • Paper weight: 5.6 oz/y² (192 g/m²) • Opacity: 94% Buy a Digital Download
