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Believe it or not, tiger sharks are actually less fussy about their food than a Great White, hence the attack on prey will be a savage attack whilst thinking only of gaining food. Although the eyesight of a Tiger shark is pretty good, they rely mainly on their excellent sense of smell to home in on prey. So it's surprising then that Tiger sharks will eat pretty much anything that they can get their teeth into, from turtles to regular fish and the extraordinary sand eels, not forgetting tin cans, bits of rubber tyres, bags and other rubbish that finds its way into the ocean. Tiger sharks are more than happy to chomp on birds that are on the water's surface. Click this link for some fascinating pictures. They are pretty much a tropical shark and will feed in shallow waters as well as along deep walls, but seem to spend at lot of time in the shallows where prey is easier to find. It's no surprise then that the Tiger shark is only second to the Great White for number of reported attacks on humans. Tiger Sharks aren't huge but at an average of 3.5 - 3.7m for females and about 3m for males they're big enough!!. The largest so far recorded has been a whopping 7.4m. Weighing in at 500 - 1000 kg, putting your hand out to stop them when they are rushing at you ready to attack, isn't going to help much. Of course the name is given because of the tiger like stripes that run across their backs, when they're young, the dorsal fins is spotted. The nose is quite blunt looking as it's rounded and short, the rest of the body is built for speed and power, these sharks can reach speeds of up to 20mph and may travel 50 miles in a day. Tiger sharks tend to be loners and only really spend time together when food is abundant or when breeding (try breeding by yourself eh!). Tiger sharks are born live as opposed to growing in egg sacs. They are 0.75m in length when born and are immediately independent of their mother. | ||||||
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Tiger Sharks, Galeocerdo cuvierCOPYRIGHT. All copyright Simon Davey unless otherwise stated. If you own the copyright to any material on this site and would either like your copyright recognised or the material removed, please let me know using the contact above. | ||
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