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Dorsal fin diagram with landmarks labeled. Fins allow the sharks to be able to guide and lift themselves. Most sharks have eight fins: a pair of pectoral fins, a pair of pelvic fins, two dorsal fins, an anal fin, and a caudal fin. Pectoral fins are stiff, which enables downward movement, lift, and guidance.
The value of shark fins for shark fin soup has led to an increase in shark catches where usually only the fins are taken, while the rest of the shark is discarded, typically into the sea; health concerns about BMAA in the fins now exists regarding consumption of the soup A 4.3-metre (14 ft), 540-kilogram (1,200 lb) tiger shark caught in Kāne ...
The sandbar shark is one of the largest coastal sharks in the world, and is closely related to the dusky shark, the bignose shark, and the bull shark. Its dorsal fin is triangular and very high, and it has very long pectoral fins. Sandbar sharks usually have heavy-set bodies and rounded snouts that are shorter than the average shark's snout.
In the 1990s, the sharks of the species from the same area averaged only 56.1 kg (124 lb). [11] The species is grey-bronze dorsally and white ventrally. [6] As its name suggests, most of its fins (dorsal, pectoral, pelvic and caudal) have white tips. Along with white tips, the fins may be mottled, and young specimens can have black marks.
According to the Humane Society International, approximately 100 million sharks are killed each year for their fins, in an act known as shark finning. [35] After the fins are cut off, the mutilated sharks are thrown back in the water and left to die. In some countries of Asia, shark fins are a culinary delicacy, such as shark fin soup. [36]
The pelvic fins and rarely the anal fin may also be black-tipped. The first dorsal fin and the upper lobe of the caudal fin typically have black edges. [3] Some larger individuals have unmarked or nearly unmarked fins. [5] Blacktip sharks can temporarily lose almost all their colors during blooms, or "whitings", of coccolithophores. [11]
The fin spines of reef-dwelling horn sharks are shorter than those living in algal habitats, as their spines become worn down on rocks from the sharks' movements. [3] The first dorsal fin originates over the bases of the large pectoral fins, while the second dorsal fin originates slightly anterior to the free rear tips of the pelvic fins.
Greenland sharks have also been found with remains of moose, polar bear, horse, and reindeer (in one case an entire reindeer body) in their stomachs. [13] [26] [22] The Greenland shark is known to be a scavenger and is attracted by the smell of rotting meat in the water. The sharks have frequently been observed gathering around fishing boats. [13]