Your vote and those of your fellow Web judges will be tabulated instantly when you submit your choice below. Measuring a total of nearly 20 feet from nose to tail, thresher sharks have tails as long as their bodies, which they use for hunting. Lashing the long, blade-like tails, thresher sharks work alone or in pairs to herd anchovies, mackerel and squid into masses. Once cornered, the fish are easy targets. A thresher may also slap and stun individual fish with this powerful weapon.
Thresher sharks live in warm seas around the world.
A thresher shark dances with its prey in this painted depiction of the fish's hunting style. Though it looks a bit like a seagull, the black skimmer prefers shoveling its prey from the water to begging for garbage on beaches. A skimmer eats by flying just above a smooth lake or river surface with its flat, blade-like beak open and its lower bill skimming the water. When it strikes a small fish or crustacean, the skimmer clamps the shorter upper bill down. Still flying, the bird pulls its head back to swallow the meal whole.