While most Blue Sharks have litters that range from 25 - 50 babies, some very large females are thought to have 100 babies at a time.
Common name: Blue Shark
Scientific name: Prionace glauca
Photo: Phillp Colla, www.oceanlight.com
About shark sizes and how long they live.
Sharks
Blue Shark
Blue Sharks live in temperate and tropical waters in the open ocean. They can be found down to depths of 500 m.
Blue Sharks are blue on top and white below. These colours camouflage them in the ocean.
Blue Sharks eat small bony fishes, squids and the dead bodies of whales and birds.
They catch their food by charging through schools of prey with their mouth open.
When they do this they move their head and tail back and forth and catch prey in the corners of their mouth.
Blue Sharks' teeth are triangular and hooked on the top jaw, and long and piercing on the bottom jaw.
Blue Sharks can grow up to 3.8 m in length.
Blue Sharks give birth to live young, with up to 100 pups per litter.
Blue Sharks have been known to attack boats and humans, but they are usually just curious.
Copyright © Australian Museum, 2003
