Tiger Shark ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Tiger Shark

Galeocerdo cuvier

Size:
to 24 ft

Habitat:
open ocean, also enters rivers and bays at night

Notes:
extremely dangerous

The serrated teeth are designed for sawing chunks from large prey items

If you are going to worry about a shark, let it be this one. Tiger Sharks are big, bold and inquisitive, and frequently come close inshore. They are also remarkably undiscriminating in their eating habits, which makes them even more likely to attack a swimmer, or anything for that matter.

Tiger sharks have the ability to evert ( turn inside-out ) their stomachs, much like starfish. This allows them to 'test' all sorts of food items that would otherwise choke them, like license plates and surfboards.

Tiger shark displaying its bad habits

Fishes of the Gulf of Maine

Sharks - Inshore

Here is an assortment of large sharks that can be found in New Jersey waters, by no means all of them. These are more likely to be found inshore in coastal waters. Sharks are seldom a danger to divers, they seem to be put off by the noise and bubbles. Nonetheless, all should be treated with caution.

In all my many inlet dives, I have seen a shark once, and that was in inoffensive Smooth Dogfish. I have been told that they are sometimes seen from up on the bridge in Belmar, but even then they would probably be out in mid-channel, and far away from strange noisy bubbling scuba divers. However, one of the most famous shark attacks of all time took place in New Jersey - the 1916 Matawan Creek attacks. See Bull Shark for details.

The only one of these that you are ever likely to encounter in local ocean diving is the relatively inoffensive Sand Tiger, not the similarly named and extremely dangerous Tiger.

More: Sharks - Inshore ...

Tiger Shark

Sharks - Inshore

Andrea Doria