Porbeagle

The porbeagle is a species of white shark. It is closely related to the salmon shark, and the two shark species share many traits.

Size and Weight
Most porbeagles will weigh around 300 lbs. They are often 8-10 feet long but have been known to reach 12 feet.

Description
The porbeagle shark has a pointy nose and crescent shaped caudal fin that make it pretty easy to identify. They have white bellies, grey backs and fins, and a small white mark on the back of their dorsal fin. The white mark is special and unique to the species.

Habitat
These sharks are more accustomed to cold waters than most sharks. They do not live in tropical waters. They can be found in the north and south Atlantic Ocean, in the Southern Ocean, and small areas in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The closest a porbeagle has been seen to tropical waters was the Mediterranean Sea and off the coast of some central Atlantic coastal states, such as New Jersey and South Carolina.

The reason porbeagles do not inhabit the north Pacific as well is because they would have to compete with the faster and very similar salmon sharks.

Prey
Porbeagles eat many fish including herring, cod, icefish, mackerel, redfish, haddock, and flatfish. Other animals that it preys on are shellfish and squid. Porbeagles have to worry about competition from orca whales and the occasional large shark that ventures into cold waters. These predators won't just eat the prey of the porbeagle, but the porbeagle itself!

Behavior
The porbeagle has some surprising behaviors. They seem to be one of the only sharks that will sometimes "play". Groups of up to 20 porpeagle sharks have been seen "tossing" chunks of seaweed, kelp, or ocean debris. They have also been observed chasing each other and have demonstrated curiosity to artificial objects like bouys and boats.