The post These Sharks Thrive in Alaska’s Icy Waters appeared first on A-Z Animals.

When we think of Alaska, we typically think of grizzly bears, moose, and harsh tundras—not sharks. However, the icy waters of Alaska are home to several shark species. Sometimes, even exotic species like great white sharks show up along the chilly coast. Let’s learn more about the types of sharks typically found in Alaskan waters.

Sleeper Sharks

Easily the largest shark species found off the coast of Alaska, sleeper sharks can grow to over 20 feet. However, on average, they reach about 12 feet in length. They earned their sleepy name from their docile, sluggish nature when caught. But make no mistake, Pacific sleeper sharks are incredibly stealthy and ruthless predators. Once they catch prey, they use a vacuum method of ingestion, literally inhaling creatures like octopus and groundfish.

You’d be hard-pressed to see a sleeper shark off the coast of Alaska unless you were out on the water at night. Sleeper sharks are also vertical migrators, meaning they spend most of their time 6,000 feet down or lower, only rising to the surface at night to hunt. They are slow to grow and late to mature, which makes them one of the more vulnerable shark species found in Alaskan waters.

Pacific Spiny Dogfish Sharks

Whereas sleeper sharks are rarely seen and hard to catch, dogfish sharks are far more common. They are the most abundant shark species on Earth, and they sometimes prefer the Alaskan coast. Dogfish sharks are characterized by small frames, schooling behavior, and noticeable sharp spines in front of their two dorsal fins. Despite not reaching reproductive maturity until around 36 years old, dogfish sharks age like wine. Some specimens are estimated to live for up to 80 years.

As previously mentioned, Pacific spiny dogfish sharks are schooling sharks. This means they hunt in packs, some of which can be so large that they reach thousands of members. They use their power in numbers to hunt herring, crab, krill, and other aquatic creatures.

Other dogfish species are found all over the world. The Pacific spiny variety, however, tends to stick to the cooler waters of the North Pacific Ocean. This makes them a common sight in Korea, Japan, and Russia, as well as Alaska. Due to their smaller size (about 50 inches in length), Pacific spiny dogfish sharks often end up in commercial trawl nets and longline fisheries, making them a species of conservation concern and monitored by fisheries agencies. While dogfish sharks rarely attack humans, their sharp dorsal fins can unintentionally cause severe wounds if they are not handled properly.

Salmon sharks

Suffice it to say that the reputation of salmon sharks precedes them. A relative of great white sharks, salmon sharks are often mistaken for their more aggressive cousins because they too have dark grey dorsal fins and white underbellies. Salmon sharks typically reach between six and eight feet in length. Unlike other shark species, salmon sharks are endothermic, meaning they can regulate their own body temperature. This allows them to remain active even in water barely above freezing temperatures.

Their diet is, quite literally, in their name: salmon. Salmon sharks use their athletic prowess to follow massive migrations of Pacific salmon. When salmon is scarce, salmon sharks will eat squid, sablefish, herring, and other creatures. Following massive schools of fish can take these sharks as far south as Baja California, but they are most concentrated in the Gulf of Alaska in the summer and autumn months.

Salmon sharks are not a staple product of commercial fisheries. Fishermen consider them a nuisance because they damage gear and consume portions of commercial catches. However, they are often accidentally caught in salmon gillnets. While salmon sharks seem capable of attacking humans, no reports exist of them actually doing so. At most, they may bump against divers.

Other Visitors

Some sharks only visit Alaska on occasion. Blue sharks, for example, are highly migratory and sometimes visit the Gulf of Alaska during years with warmer-than-average summers. The rest of the time, they travel all over the world, as blue sharks can cover thousands of miles at a time.

Another species that sometimes visits Alaska is the Pacific angelshark. These flat-bodied sharks tend to stick to the coastlines, burying themselves in shallow sand to ambush prey. Most of the time, angel sharks hang around South America and California, but some have been documented as far north as Alaska.

Last but not least, the great white shark is one of the largest shark species on Earth and also one of the most misunderstood. Although they are considered apex predators with a reputation for attacking humans, great white sharks usually bite people by mistake or out of sheer curiosity. Due to their ability to regulate their body temperature, great white sharks have been documented off the coast of Alaska on rare occasions.

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