Fans of sea bathing who are going to Crimea for the first time on vacation often wonder Are there sharks in the Black Sea? Both local residents living in a resort town or village, and professionals - oceanographers, who confirm that yes, there are sharks in the Black Sea and there are only two species, will help you get an answer to this question. Are they dangerous or not? What dangerous sharks swim into the Black Sea? Do these predators swim close to the coast? We will tell and show in this article.
Fauna of the Black Sea
The fauna of the Black Sea is not very diverse. This is due to the fact that its water is very saturated with hydrogen sulfide. For this reason, many of the representatives of the local flora and fauna simply cannot exist there. Many species of fish and inhabitants of neighboring seas do not swim into the Black Sea from the Mediterranean because they cannot stand the smell of water saturated with hydrogen sulfide.
As you know, sharks prefer to swim in the depths of the seas, and in the Black Sea, hydrogen sulfide condenses and accumulates there. Moreover, the predator can get from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea only by swimming through the Dardanelles Strait, then it needs to swim through the Sea of Marmara, and the narrow Bosporus Strait. Both straits are not wide, but this is not a problem for the predator, but the shallow water in some areas is an obstacle for them.
Species of sharks in the waters of the Crimean peninsula
On the territory of Crimea you can see Black Sea katrans - marine inhabitants from the shark family that feed on fish. This type of predator is numerous and grows up to one and a half meters in length. Accustomed to being in a flock, Black Sea Katrans are not capable of attacking a person, but they can cause harm to health.
It's all about the spines located on the skin of the fish. They are endowed with a toxic substance. By touching the sea giant, a person can get wounds on the skin.
The local population and guests of Crimea should know that katrans try to stay away from the beaches and are not aggressive towards people.
Experts say that there are no other species of sharks on the territory of the Crimean Republic. An exception may be cat sharks that swim to these waters from the Mediterranean Sea. However, this class of fish cannot hunt people. On the contrary, they are afraid of humans.
Types of sharks of the Black Sea: katran and scyllium
But still, the answer to the question of whether there are sharks in the Black Sea will be positive. In its depths there are katrans - small sharks that are not a threat to humans, since they hunt fish. Katrans live in flocks. The average size of an individual of this species from the shark family is slightly more than a meter in length.
Are katrans dangerous? They cannot kill a person or bite off a limb, but they can injure and injure him. The fact is that there are sharp poisonous spines on the skin and fins of the katran. In some cases, katrans can bite. Their bites can be life-threatening if attacked by a flock. Most often, fishermen suffer from an encounter with a katran; ordinary people bathing and swimming in the sea are not attacked by katrans, unless you step on one of those calmly basking in shallow water.
Externally, the katran is similar to its distant relatives: white and blue sharks. This predator is a permanent resident and indigenous inhabitant of the Black Sea.
There is also another shark in the Black Sea: catshark or scyllium . The length of the cat shark does not exceed one meter. Its diet includes Black Sea mollusks and other invertebrates living in the depths. She does not pose a threat to a person or his life; on the contrary, she tries in every possible way to avoid a meeting.
As you can see, neither the Katran nor the cat shark are enemies to humans, and you still need to figure out who is the enemy of whom, because it is not sharks that hunt humans, but, on the contrary, humans that hunt sharks. In Crimea, all vacationers are offered to taste delicious fish in the form of a smoked delicacy - balyk, which is similar in taste to expensive sturgeon.
Black Sea sharks are actually very tasty. You can try the meat of these predators both in a restaurant and on the beach, where local merchants offer it. But here you need to be vigilant. You need to buy fish products in stores where they are stored according to the rules.
For lovers of sea hunting, local fishermen are ready to show a master class on how to catch a katran with a fishing rod. This is an interesting and exciting activity for all those who love fishing.
Another interesting entertainment that you will certainly be offered in Crimea is diving. Having plunged into the depths where these and other “residents” of the Black Sea live, you will receive aesthetic pleasure and feel like part of the still unknown underwater world of the Black Sea.
Goblin shark: an unusual guest from the Pacific Ocean
And now a little history. In 2010, in Crimea, off the coast of Sevastopol, local fishermen caught a Goblin shark, which lives in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Naturally, they were puzzled by such a catch, as a result of which the sensational catch led to investigations into how this creature could get into the waters of the Black Sea, which is located thousands of kilometers away from her home. Here is what is said about this in the expedition reports of the Kharkov researcher of anomalous phenomena Sergei Petrov:
“Sevastopol fishermen were quite surprised when they caught this monster. Many sea reptiles have been seen here, but this is the first time such a specimen has been caught. The footage posted on the Mobile Reporter website shows how the sailors do not know what to do with the catch. A goblin shark, goblin shark, rhinoceros shark or scapanorhynchus (lat. Mitsukurina owstoni) got caught in the fishermen's net. The fish got its name for its bizarre appearance: the shark’s snout ends in a long beak-like outgrowth. This species has been little studied; less than five dozen specimens are known to science.
The brownie lives off the coast of Japan in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, and how it ended up in the Antlantka, where the salinity of the water is different, is unclear. “I know cases when a blue or tiger shark swam, but they swam to the shores of the Bosphorus and went back, for them this barrier of salinity turned out to be insurmountable,” says Alla Korotkova, curator of the Sevastopol Aquarium Foundation. The brownie shark lives at a depth of 200 meters. This species has been studied very little. It is not even known whether it is endangered or aggressive towards humans.
For Sevastopol oceanologists it is now a mystery how long the goblin shark lived in the Black Sea. But whether this marine inhabitant was the only representative of its genus in the Sevastopol Bay is unknown. These sharks feed on a variety of organisms that live in deep waters. They eat fish, including other sharks, and can reach lengths of 3-4 meters (there may be larger sharks of this species, but the longest goblin shark discovered was 3.8 meters long). They also feed on crustaceans and squid, octopus and cuttlefish.
The goblin has several rows of teeth, some of which are used for catching prey, while others are used for cracking the shells of crustaceans. The front teeth are long and smoothly framed, while the rear teeth are adapted for gnawing. Up to 25% of the goblin shark's body weight is its liver. This contributes to the buoyancy of the shark, which, like all sharks, lacks a swim bladder.
These sharks hunt, sensing the presence of prey thanks to special sensitive organs; their vision is weak due to the lack of light at great depths. Once the shark finds its prey, it suddenly shoots out its jaws, using a tongue-like muscle to grab the prey with its sharp front teeth."
Statistics on shark attacks in the Black Sea
There are no confirmed facts about shark attacks on humans in the Black Sea, but as fishermen say, they encountered a spotted spiny specimen.
Rarely have there been katran attacks on divers who were themselves to blame. They decided to play with what they thought was a harmless shark and pull its tail. For which they paid, receiving bites.
Some fishermen who did not follow the rules of caution when fishing for a predator also had marks in the form of welts and scars on their skin.
Katran bite
There are cases when vacationers accidentally stepped on a shark lying on the bottom in the sea. In this case, the shark immediately reacted to the impact, regarding it as an attack.
You can see the Crimean katran (spiny shark) and cat shark in any seaside town of Crimea where there is an Aquarium.
Picky ogres
If you answer the question about Black Sea sharks unequivocally, the answer is simple - they exist. But the real situation is more complicated. “Shark” is a general concept, a group of several hundred species. All of them are predatory, but very different in size, habitat, behavior and food preferences. They live in all seas and oceans, but are very demanding on environmental conditions (temperature and salinity level of water, quantity and variety of food, bottom topography). Varieties common in some regions are not found in others.
From the shark's point of view, the main features of the Black Sea are low salinity, intense annoying shipping, insufficient numbers of fish and animals, low temperature (it is warm in comparison with the White Sea, but not in comparison with the Red Sea). It is also important that it is inconvenient to get there from other regions: the Black Sea straits, clogged with ships, are not the best place for a shark walk. That is why a wide variety of predators off the coast of Crimea is excluded in principle.
It is also interesting that sharks do not consider humans as their priority food for an objective reason - the aquatic environment is alien to the latter. Predators eat swimmers when there is no more suitable prey nearby and only on condition that their size resembles their usual food. As a rule, divers confuse sharks with seals. Are there many species in the Black Sea comparable in appearance to humans? Are there many seals and sea lions in it?
Popular questions and answers
Are there sharks in the Black Sea? Yes, in the Black Sea there are katran and cat shark (scyllium).
What sharks swim into the Black Sea? In addition to the Katran and catshark, white shark, fox shark, and hammerhead shark swim here.
Are there sharks that are dangerous to human life? A vacationer can be attacked by both a white shark and a hammerhead shark. In this case, the person is in mortal danger. In some cases, you can suffer from a katran bite.
Do sharks attack in the Black Sea? Yes, sometimes they attack. As an everywhere.
Are there statistics and cases of shark attacks on people in the Black Sea? There are no official statistics. To confirm a case of a shark attack, you need to draw up documents and convene a special commission that will make a conclusion and confirm or, on the contrary, refute the case of attack in the media.
Why are tourists afraid of shark attacks in Crimea? Because there were cases when fishermen and vacationers suffered from the bites of these predators.
Can a white shark swim into the Black Sea? Yes, sometimes white sharks, dangerous to humans, swim into the Black Sea. This does not happen often, so it is impossible to track and record such cases. When and how often a white shark swims into the Black Sea cannot be said with certainty.
Does the Goblin shark live in the Black Sea?
It is not found in the Black Sea. Or is it already happening? In 2013, a case was recorded when this rare predator was caught in a fishing boat's net. But most likely this is an isolated case.
And in this video clip you can see what sizes Black Sea sharks reach:
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Scary inhabitants of the deep sea...
There are more than 450 species of “terrible” predators in the world. The smallest shark is the deep-dweller Etmopterus perryi. Her body length is only 17 centimeters. The largest is the whale shark with a body length of about 20 meters, which is also the largest fish on the planet.
“Wow the size! I wouldn’t want to meet her on the Black Sea!” - tourists will think and they will be wrong: giant sharks - whale and giant - are completely harmless to humans. They feed on plankton and small crustaceans, filtering sea water like whales. But representatives of smaller species - nurse sharks and leopard sharks - sometimes show unexpected aggressiveness and attack swimmers.
The list of dangerous shark species today consists of fifty species, and among them there are those that pose a threat to human life. The leaders of this “red” rating are:
- bull shark (aggressive, has long been known for attacks on people; man-eater);
- white shark (the legendary man-eating shark, also the main character of the film “Jaws”);
- tiger shark (one of the most common species on Earth; man-eater);
- long-winged shark (a most dangerous species; a man-eater that has caused the death of thousands of people stranded in the water due to shipwrecks or plane crashes);
- mako shark (often attacks people, killing or maiming them);
- gray reef shark (cases of attacks on divers have been recorded);
- sand shark (single attacks on people);
- hammerhead shark (despite its ominous appearance, humans are rarely attacked);
- blue shark (as of 2011, 34 attacks on humans were recorded, of which 8 attacks resulted in the death of the victim);
- lemon shark (no cases of attacks with “consequences” have been recorded; considered potentially dangerous to humans).
The only way sharks can get from the World Ocean to the Black Sea is from the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosphorus Strait. In Mediterranean waters there are about 47 species of dangerous predators, of which in 16 species some individuals reach 3 meters in length. 15 species of Mediterranean sharks are considered potentially dangerous to humans. Checking the lists, we discover the already familiar “man-eaters”: white and bull sharks.
