The World’s Top Ten Most Harmless Sharks

Thanks to films like Jaws and TV series like Shark Week, sharks are known for being infamously violent animals. Contrary to common assumption, not all shark species pose a hazard to humans. In actuality, the majority of sharks that swim in the waters are safe and pose no threat to people.

Attacks by aggressive shark species, such tiger sharks and great white sharks, are rare and only a small number of these have been linked to both provoked and unprovoked attacks. The top ten harmless sharks in the world are included in this article.

Whale Shark

Large species of whale sharks that can reach lengths of more than 30 feet can be found in the open waters of tropical oceans. With their little teeth, they are filter feeders that mostly consume plankton and small fish. Surprisingly, despite their size, they do not threaten people.

They are gentle and will occasionally even let swimmers ride on their backs. However, because it disturbs the sharks, this practice has been discouraged. Young whale sharks may play with divers and are amiable creatures. Whale sharks are the biggest and most gentle sharks in the water, despite their massive size.

Angel Shark

When confronted underwater, angel sharks typically swim away or remain motionless. It typically lays immobile on the seafloor during the day, hiding its eyes behind a layer of sediment. The angel shark is more active at night and can occasionally be observed swimming above the surface. Though it doesn’t happen often, this species can bite severely if it is startled or trodden upon. Other than that, they usually don’t act aggressively against people.

Nurse Shark

Usually found inshore, nurse sharks are bottom-dwelling animals. These are lone, nocturnal creatures that spend the night scrounging through bottom sediments for food; during the day, they frequently congregate in big, immobile groups. Nurse sharks are not dangerous to people, and they only attack to defend themselves or when they are directly provoked. Only five unprovoked attacks by nurse sharks have occurred in history, and none of them resulted in fatalities.

Leopard Shark

The North American Pacific coast is home to leopard sharks, which are most frequently seen on muddy or sandy flats in enclosed bays and estuaries. They mostly eat clams, crabs, shrimp, and bony fish, and they typically swim at the bottom of the ocean. There haven’t been any fatal reports of leopard shark attacks, which is surprising given how frequently they’re found in the same shallow areas where people swim. When they come upon humans, they are cautious and swift to run.

Sharks of the Caribbean Reef

One of the biggest apex predators in the water, the Caribbean reef shark consumes a variety of fish and cephalopods. They are frequently observed dozing off near the ocean’s bottom, which is thought to be odd for a shark that swims actively. Because of their well-deserved reputation for being safe around people, some ocean guides have made feeding Caribbean reef sharks a popular attraction in public areas. This practice is thought to be contentious, nevertheless.

Basking Shark

With an adult’s length of up to 26 feet, basking sharks are the second largest shark species still in existence in the ocean. Basking sharks are not an aggressive species and do not pose a threat to humans, despite their enormous size and intimidating look. Large sharks are a major draw for dive tourism in regions where they are plentiful because they are amiable toward boats and divers and may even circle them.

Tiger Shark Sand

Around the world, subtropical and temperate waters are home to sand tiger sharks. It has a large, up to 10.5-foot-long body and a small, pointed head with prominent fangs.

It is a quite gentle and slow-moving shark that poses no harm to humans, despite its scary look and powerful swimming skills. Their mouths are not big enough to kill a human, but they do eat crabs, bony fish, skates, squid, and other sharks. Because of their big size and placid nature, sand tiger sharks are frequently seen on exhibit in public aquariums across the globe.

Bamboo Shark

Bamboo sharks are 48 inches long, comparatively small, and have a moderate speed. These sharks live on the bottom, sleeping during the day in the cracks in the reef and feeding at night. They are peaceful and non-aggressive, just like the majority of harmless sharks. There is no risk to people from bamboo sharks, and no human attack has ever been documented. They have been seen to tolerate being petted by divers without harming them.

Greenland Shark

The North Atlantic and Arctic oceans are home to the majority of the Greenland shark species. These sharks are not known to pose a hazard to humans because they usually inhabit the frigid depths of the Arctic and North Atlantic, far from populated areas.

Human attacks are extremely unlikely due to the icy waters slightly above freezing point; only one attack, which occurred 163 years ago, has been documented to far. The prey that greenland sharks favor eating includes lumpfish, skates, herring, eels, smaller sharks, and a variety of other fish.

Thresher Shark

The thresher shark is another sizable shark found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. They prefer open ocean in waters under 500 meters, although they are occasionally observed in shallow coastal waters. Their remarkably long tails, which they employed to shock prey, gave rise to their name.

Thresher sharks are lonesome animals that like to remain to themselves and do not seem to represent a threat to humans, despite their sometimes violent traits. There are no documented cases of thresher sharks biting people without cause.