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Not just Shark Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and chimaera's from around the world. It began as a simple web based field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter different species of sharks and rays but it has slowly evolved into a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark diving and photography. There are now more than a thousand shark pictures and sections on shark evolution, biology, and conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so difficult to check for updates, that new information and pictures are listed on an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:
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ELASMODIVER EXPANDED If you're looking for a broader range of marine life pictures the following links represent a new area that contains pictures on other marine organisms and on marine habitats. This expansion of Elasmodiver is in its first stages but will eventually include pages on everything from sea stars to nudibranches. Creating this portal will take time and for now it consists of a token offering of fish pictures. Please return regularly to enjoy the progress.
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SHARK PICTURES AND INFORMATION - SHARKS AND RAYS OF THE WORLD |
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The latest additions / updates to Elasmodiver Another species added to the Elasmodiver Field Guide and the Shark Picture database. This time it's the (not so) Common Angel Shark from the Canary Islands 23/06/08 |
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Elasmodiver Shark Stories New Story added to the Elasmodiver Article Section 23/03/08 Tracking down the resting place of the slowly disappearing California Swell Shark |
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Back to Canada New ElasmoBlog - 16/09/08
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The Elasmodiver Shark and Ray Field Guide |
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Sharks and rays are amazing creatures. They inspire many emotions among divers, fishermen, movie watchers, aquarium visitors, surfers, and anyone else who has the chance to interact with them. The emotions that they conjure up in us include awe, fear, delight, repulsion, excitement, curiosity and terror but the one thing that sharks rarely inspire is boredom or indifference. Why they engender such strong feelings among us varies from a primordial fear of large predators to a respect for their incredible abilities and a deep appreciation of their power and grace. What ever reason you have for your interest in sharks and for visiting Elasmodiver, I hope you enjoy all the shark pictures and information that is contained here and that you take away and pass on a renewed desire to help these incredible creatures survive in an increasingly hostile environment.
Thank you for visiting Elasmodiver, Andy Murch - Shark Photographer and Web Master |
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ORDER TORPEDINIFORMES TORPEDO RAYS, COFFIN RAYS, ELECTRIC RAYS & SLEEPER RAYS |
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Family NARCINIDAE - Electric rays |
Family HYPNIDAE - Coffin rays |
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ORDER MYLIOBATIFORMES WHIPTAIL STINGRAYS, ROUND STINGRAYS AND STINGAREES, DEEPWATER STINGRAYS, FRESHWATER STINGRAYS, BUTTERFLY RAYS, SIXGILL STINGRAYS, EAGLE RAYS, COWNOSE RAYS & DEVIL RAYS |
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Family DASYATIDAE - Whiptail Stingrays The biology and behavior of Whiptail Stingrays |
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| COMMON STINGRAY - Dasyatis pastinaca | ||||
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Family POTAMOTRYGONIDAE - River stingrays The biology and evolution of River Stingrays |
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Family UROLOPHIDAE - Round stingrays and stingarees |
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Family MYLIOBATIDAE - Eagle rays |
Family MOBULIDAE - Devil rays |
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Family RHINOPTERIDAE - Cownose Rays |
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ORDER RAJIFORMES SKATES |
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| Family RAJIDAE - Skates | ||||
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ORDER RHINOBATIFORMES SHARKFIN GUITARFISHES, GUITARFISHES & THORNBACK RAYS |
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Family RHINOBATIDAE Guitarfishes |
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Family PLATYRHINIDAE Thornback Rays |
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ORDER PRISTIFORMES SAWFISH |
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| Family PRISTIDAE - Sawfishes | ||||
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ORDER HEXANCHIFORMES SIXGILL, SEVENGILL & FRILLED SHARKS |
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| Family HEXANCHIDAE- Six and seven gilled sharks | ||||
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ORDER ORECTOLOBIFORMES ZEBRA SHARKS, WHALE SHARKS, BAMBOO AND EPAULETTE SHARKS, BLIND SHARKS, NURSE SHARKS, WOBBEGONG SHARKS & CARPET SHARKS |
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STEGOSTOMATIDAE Zebra sharks |
RHINCODONTIDAE Whale sharks |
Family GINGLYMOSTOMATIDAE Nurse sharks |
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Family HEMISCYLLIIDAE Bamboo and Epaulette sharks |
Family BRACHAELURIDAE Blind Sharks |
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Family ORECTOLOBIDAE - Wobbegong sharks |
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| SPOTTED WOBBEGONG - Orectolobus maculatus | ||||
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ORDER SQUALIFORMES DOGFISH SHARKS, SLEEPER SHARKS, BRAMBLE SHARKS, LANTERN SHARKS, ROUGH SHARKS, KITEFIN SHARKS, GULPER SHARKS & BIRDBEAK SHARKS |
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Family SQUALIDAE Dogfish sharks |
Family SOMNIOSIDAE Sleeper sharks |
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ORDER LAMNIFORMES MACKERAL SHARKS, SANDTIGER SHARKS, BASKING SHARKS, THRESHER SHARKS, MEGAMOUTH SHARKS & GOBLIN SHARKS |
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Family LAMNIDAE Mackeral sharks |
ODONTASPIDIDAE Sandtiger sharks |
CETORHINIDAE Basking sharks |
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ORDER CARCHARHINIFORMES HAMMERHEADS, REQUIEM SHARKS, SMOOTHHOUND SHARKS & CATSHARKS |
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| Family SPHYRNIDAE - Hammerhead sharks | ||||
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Family CARCHARHINIDAE - Requiem sharks |
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Family TRIAKIDAE - Smoothhound Sharks |
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Family SCYLIORHINIDAE - Catsharks |
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ORDER HETERODONTIFORMES BULLHEAD SHARKS |
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Family HETERODONTIDAE - Bullhead sharks |
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ORDER SQUATINIFORMES ANGEL SHARKS |
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Family SQUATINIDAE - Angel Sharks |
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| COMMON ANGEL SHARH - Squatina squatina | ||||
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ORDER CHIMAERIIFORMES CHIMAERAS & ELEPHANTFISHES |
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| Family CHIMAERIDAE - shortnose chimaeras | ||||
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USE OF PICTURES All pictures are the property of Andy Murch or other contributing photographers. No pictures may be copied or reproduced without prior consent. If you wish to acquire high resolution images for commercial purposes please contact Elasmodiver. All available pictures of sharks and rays are listed in THE SHARKIVE |
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Back to Canada June 16th 2008
Just when I though I had my summer nailed down it looks like the Mediterranean is not going to work out. After a great trip to the Canaries to shoot sharks and rays, we returned to Palma to look for work on the yachts but this year the med season is starting slowly. I'm not much of a sit around and wait kind of guy so we decided to head back to Canada to work on Vancouver Island over the summer. This involves flying to Toronto with my girlfriend Claire to where my camper is being stored, hopefully seeing my boys Aron and Luke if they have time and then starting an epic road trip back to British Columbia. I'm a bit worried that my ailing camper van won't make it over the rockies but as they say "nothing ventured, nothing gained". The pay off will be a long hot summer on the island working hard and chasing sharks and skates. It has been too long since we got to hang out with old friends, mountain bike, climb and all the other things that you just can't do when you're on the road with no luggage space for toys other than cameras and dive gear. I will run at least one photography workshop while we're there so if anyone is interested in tweaking their underwater shooting skills, please send me an email. We haven't even arrived there yet but I am already figuring out where we can go next to get some new shark pictures while we're in the north west. A whole summer with nothing new to shoot would be too frustrating! So, I am looking into a trip to shoot Salmon Sharks in Alaska. I expect that it will be frustrating, cold and fraught with unforeseen difficulty just like the trip I did last summer to shoot Porbeagle Sharks in the Bay of Fundy. If you enjoy a challenge and you're interested in joining me on a trip fitting this description please let me know. Other plans include an expedition with Eli from SDM to look for Oceanic Whitetip Sharks in the Bahamas and then sometime in the fall Claire and I are heading down to Mexico to shoot Mexican Bullhead Sharks and possibly Pacific Sharrpnose Sharks. Lots of plans, lots of time, not much of a budget but enough of an obsession to make it happen regardless. For the sharks, Andy Murch
A quick trip to the Canary Islands June 10th 2008
I have just returned from the Canary Islands. It was a good trip for shark and ray pictures. Thanks to a couple of very helpful dive shops I managed to return with five new species for Elasmodiver and much better images of the Roughtail Stingray that I previously had only one fuzzy shot of. Not bad for five days of diving. I will eventually load a page for each of the dive centres and the encounters that they facilitate but for now I want to at least give them a quick plug. They are: Davey Jones Diving in Arinaga, Gran Canaria. These guys can find Angel Sharks at times of the year when other operators cant. Brian (the owner) is an eagle eyed guide and keen naturalist with a knack for finding Angels under the sand. His store has been instrumental in collecting shark info for an ongoing university study. Los Gigantes Dive Centre in Los Gigantes, Tenerife. Neville (the owner) has been operating a ray feed since 1996. The by-weekly feed attracts 3 to 6 species of rays and sometimes also brings in Angel Sharks. Neville and his staff went out of their way to help us chase down the rays that we were looking for. Thanks to both dive centres for all your help!
For the Sharks, Andy Murch Read the previous shark blogs in the Elasmoblog Archives
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