Shark Coloring Pages
Sharks have been swimming in the oceans for over 400 million years, which makes them older than trees and older than the dinosaurs!
There are more than 500 kinds of shark, from the huge whale shark to the dwarf lantern shark, which is small enough to hold in your hand.
Jump to: Types of Sharks | Prehistoric Sharks | Fantasy Sharks | Shark Songs | More Printables
Types of Sharks
Bull Shark
Bull sharks can swim from the ocean right up into rivers. They have been found hundreds of kilometres inland, because their bodies cope with fresh water as well as salt.
Great White Shark
A great white is dark grey on top and white underneath, and that two-tone body is a clever disguise. From above it blends in with the deep water, and from below its pale belly matches the bright surface.
Great White Shark coloring pages
Greenland Shark
The Greenland shark cruises through freezing Arctic waters at a slow and steady pace. It is thought to live for hundreds of years, longer than any other animal with a backbone.
Greenland Shark coloring pages
Hammerhead Shark
A hammerhead has an eye on each end of its wide flat head, so it can see almost all the way around without turning. That odd shape also helps it sense prey hiding in the sand.
Hammerhead Shark coloring pages
Mako Shark
The mako is one of the fastest sharks in the sea and has been clocked at around 70 kilometres an hour. It can even leap clear out of the water.
Thresher Shark
A thresher shark's tail is as long as the rest of its body. It whips that tail through the water to stun small fish before it eats them.
Tiger Shark
Young tiger sharks have dark stripes down their sides, just like a tiger, and the stripes fade as they grow up. Adults are famous for eating almost anything they come across.
Whale Shark
The whale shark is the biggest fish in the world, about as long as a bus, and it eats some of the smallest food in the sea. It scoops up tiny plankton by swimming along with its huge mouth open.
White Tip Shark
Many sharks have to keep swimming to breathe, but the whitetip reef shark can take a nap. By day it tucks itself under a ledge or into a cave to rest, then heads out to hunt once the sun goes down...
Prehistoric Sharks
Megalodon was a giant shark that died out millions of years ago, and fossils are how we know how big it was. Some of its teeth were bigger than a grown-up's hand.
Sharks in Myth and Legend
Across the Pacific islands sharks were more than animals in the sea. In Hawaii a family could have a shark as its aumakua, a guardian spirit that watched over them. Stories from many islands tell of shark gods who guided lost canoes home...
Kamohoali'i
When a Hawaiian ship was lost at sea, the shark god Kamohoali'i would swish his tail in front of the fleet and lead the sailors home. He is the big brother of Pele, the volcano goddess, and stories say he steered her canoe all the way to Hawaii. There is even a cliff at Kilauea volcano named for him where the smoke never drifts...
Dakuwaqa
Dakuwaqa, the shark god of Fiji, could change into a man or a shark or even a floating log, and fishermen asked him to keep them safe at sea. Stories say he once set out to conquer the island of Kadavu but met a goddess in the form of an octopus. She won the battle, and he promised never to attack the island again...
Beizam
A hammerhead shape rises in the night sky above the Torres Strait Islands, off the northern tip of Australia. This star pattern is called Beizam, and when it appears the season is about to change, which helps people know when to fish and hunt. Dancers wear hammerhead headdresses to move the way Beizam does...
Fantasy Sharks
Real sharks can't fly or grant wishes, but nobody told these ones. They sprout tentacles, spin up tornadoes and run on cogwheels, and one even works as a fairy godmother.
Shark Songs
Baby Shark
Long before it took over the internet, "Baby Shark" was a chant kids sang around campfires with hand motions. Real baby sharks are called pups and most swim off on their own soon after they are born. A whole shark family singing along together is pure make-believe!
Fish in the Sea
Sea shanties were work songs that kept a ship's crew pulling together in rhythm. In "Fish in the Sea" the shark is the powerful ruler of the deep, and nothing in the water dares to cross it.
More Shark printables
Shark Puzzles
