The first sharks appeared in the oceans 400 million years ago and survived several mass extinctions. They are very efficient predators, with a highly developed sensory system and an oversized brain.
The evolution of these animals has resulted in many different customs,they inhabit tropical oceans, polar and even in fresh water, may be coastal pelagic species, migratory or stable, nektonic or benthic they can be great, predatores or feed, on the contrary, on small crabs and bivalves, or even filter plankton. You could say that sharks are opportunistic predators, as they capture prey that is available locally or seasonally. Therefore, they are able to change their diet.
They have needed a long time to adapt their way of life to certain environmental conditions and so when man modifies these conditions there is a great risk of elimination. There are many reasons to defend the necessary existence of these animals. The main one, is that they occupy the top of the food chain, and its function is to maintain the balance of the marine life population explosions preventing and eliminating weak or sick animals. This balance is very vulnerable and it is estimated that approximately up to 73 million sharks are killed each year worldwide. This means that more than 10.000 sharks die per hour in the world.
The main causes of this decline in the populations are overfishing and finning, a practice that involves cutting off shark fins and throwing the rest of the body back in the sea when the animal is still alive.
We must protect them, sharks are one of the most successful creations of nature.
Through this series of photographs I wanted to represent the extreme beauty of some of the most iconic sharks such as the Whale Shark, Lemon Shark, Oceanic Blacktip Shark and the legendary Great White Shark.