Nature has taken care to make the Black Sea safe, free from sharks that pose a threat to humans. It is almost completely isolated from the ocean, distant communication with which occurs through the Bosporus and Dardanelles, saturated with ships.
The states that have been located around the Euxine Pontus since ancient times have many ports, bases, both tourist and military, on the coast. Naval exercises of different countries are systematically held in the waters of the Black Sea. All this makes it completely unattractive for large sharks that are dangerous to humans.
Black Sea sharks
But at the same time, the question of whether sharks are found in the Black Sea can be answered with confidence in the affirmative. After all, katrans are sharks, albeit small, but real. In addition to this species, a cat shark is sometimes found in the waters of the sea, whose habitat is the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It enters Chernoye through the aforementioned straits. Katran is found everywhere, its habitat extends to the entire sea and even the southern part of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov is included in it.
The most common shark in the world
In general, the katran is the most common shark in the world, and the depth at which it can be found reaches 1460 meters.
Since the Black Sea katran is a real shark from the katran family, the answer to the question of whether sharks are found in the Black Sea will always be positive. What is this sea animal? Squalus acanthias ponticus, or Black Sea katran, refers to cartilaginous fish, which is one of the two existing classes of these aquatic creatures. The most famous of its representatives are sharks.
Katran is found everywhere except lakes
The common katran differs from the terrible killer sharks only in size. Females can reach 180 centimeters in length and weigh up to 15 kilograms. Males are much smaller. The detachment to which the Black Sea katran belongs is called the Spiny Sharks. It was first described in 1758 by the scientist Carl Linnaeus. This sea creature lives in the temperate waters of absolutely all oceans. Are sharks found in the Black Sea, specifically short-finned prickly or blunt-nose prickly (different names for the katran)? Yes, the Black Sea is no exception. But in it these sharks are much less than in other reservoirs. So, in the middle of the last century, up to 27,000,000 pieces of katrans were caught off the coast of Massachusetts annually, that is, on an industrial scale. Now, quotas have been introduced for the production of blunt-nosed spiny sharks, since this species has been given the status of vulnerable, and its population has begun to decrease.
Demanded fish
From the meat of short-finned prickly sharks, very tasty balyk and good canned food are obtained, delicacies are also prepared from the fins. From the fat of the katrans, rich in vitamins A and E, medical and technical fats are obtained. Even from cartilage in 1980 in the USSR, the drug "Katrex" was obtained, supposedly effective in the fight against malignant tumors. Its effectiveness, however, has not been proven. But other drugs derived from the cartilage of the blunt-nosed spiny shark are very effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis or degenerative-dystrophic joint diseases. Therefore, to the question of whether sharks are found in the Black Sea, one can answer that they are not only found, but in such quantities that even raw materials for preparations are obtained from them.
Wrong information
But people vacationing on the Black Sea coast are not very interested in the dignity of fish, if it is a shark. One message about their appearance significantly reduces the number of tourists who planned to relax in one of the Black Sea resorts.
Thus, the information that passed in 2008 that sharks were attacking the coast of Turkey redirected the flow of tourists to other places. Maybe that's why it was launched? The fact is that Bonjuk Bay (Gekova region) is now a protected area, because sand sharks are bred there, that is, these fish are still in Turkey.
Blackfeather Guest
But this is in Turkey, but what about on the Black Sea coast of Russia? For example, are there sharks in the Black Sea in Sochi? The question is more than topical, given the increased popularity of this resort. Moreover, at the beginning of April 2015 there was information that a blacktip shark was seen on the central beach of the city. The Sochi news showed a video in which this inhabitant of tropical and subtropical waters really floated on the surface of the sea, not far from the coast. Experts who spoke on this subject made two versions of the appearance of an uninvited guest. The first suggests that the fish tagged along with the ship from which it was fed, and thus arrived at our shores. The second option assumes that this is a "home shark" that escaped from some private aquarium.
Friendly and welcoming sea
As a rule, these small sharks (they reach only 1.5 meters in length) are not dangerous to humans, as they prefer to hunt schools of schooling fish. But, being an active predator, in the absence of food, these fish can attack a person. Of course, environmental surprises must also be taken into account, because not so long ago a white whale swam into the waters of the southern capital of Russia.
Now, for the time being, with regard to killer fish, it is possible with full confidence to give a negative answer to the question of whether sharks are found in the Black Sea. Sochi is no exception in this regard. Only katrans live in the Black Sea, which, as a rule, do not reach even a meter in length. This body of water off the coast of Russia is very friendly. Of course, there are predators here, such as jellyfish and scorpionfish, rays and sea dragons. But they do not attack a person, and they still need to be looked for.
Our native sharks
Of course, in relation to popular resort towns dependent on the influx of tourists, questions like: "Are there sharks in the Black Sea, in Gelendzhik?" Especially often vacationers are interested in this before the start of the season. Such questions have become more frequent because there were indeed cases of attacks on people in the popular resorts of Egypt. And vacationers are interested to know if the ecology has not affected the Black Sea coast and specifically the city where they were going to go in the summer. And the Internet is full of rumors. Either two white sharks were noticed near the beaches of Turkey, or a predator was splashing near the central beach in Sochi ... So questions arise. But there are also answers. So, one web user answered a similar question that only dog and cat sharks are found off the Russian coast, and no others. The dog is called the Black Sea katran.
Hunter safe for humans
This fish has a perfect body for a hunter and predator, resembling a torpedo, thanks to which it can reach speeds of up to 70 km / h. But it is absolutely not dangerous for people - neither full nor hungry. The only trouble that she can deliver to a person is an injury with poisonous spikes located on the fins. How is it necessary to get a poor fish so that it scratches the hunter at the speed that a katran can develop while running away? Yes, these are sharks, they are predators, but only for the inhabitants of the underwater kingdom they are dangerous. For humans, the sharks of the Black Sea are rather the object of hunting themselves.
There are no man-eating sharks in the Black Sea
And yet, questions such as: “Are there sharks in the Black Sea, in Anapa?” Constantly arise. Moreover, the film "Jaws" was watched by many. Of course, one can imagine that some (or even some) shark can penetrate through the straits into the Black Sea, but it is unlikely that it will swim far from them. The water in the Black Sea is fresher and the temperature difference is very convincing - from 30 degrees Celsius in summer to low rates in winter. No huge predator can bear this for long.
Therefore, to all questions like: “Are there sharks in the Black Sea?”, Photos confirming the fact that they are found, videos and stories of witnesses, we can answer that the appearance of a real predator, dangerous to people, is a single case, and rather man-made. The shark either escaped from the aquarium or was released for an adrenaline rush.
The attacks of predatory sharks on people off the coast of the Sharm el-Sheikh resort caused alarm not only for the Egyptian authorities, but also for scientists around the world who are trying to find out the cause of the tragedies.
“The appearance of a large number of dangerous sharks is most likely associated with the beginning of the period of reproduction and the birth of offspring,” the well-known Ukrainian oceanographer, doctor of biological sciences, professor at the Kerch State Marine Technological University Yevgeny Gubanov expressed his opinion. He has been studying life and the behavior of sharks in the world's oceans and seas.The scientist recalled that the Red Sea is considered the largest nursery of sharks in the world.There are about 250 species of them.At the same time, the oceanographer does not really believe that it was the long-winged shark that attacked the tourists, according to one of "There have been only a few such cases over the past hundred years, and most likely, people were attacked by a real aggressor - a mako shark or a bull shark," says Evgeny Gubanov.
In early December, in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, there were several attacks of predators on bathing tourists. At Cape Nasrani in Naama Bay, they seriously injured three tourists from Russia and one from Ukraine. For a 70-year-old tourist from Germany, swimming was the last. The shark tore off her arm and the woman died almost immediately in the water. Experts from the Egyptian Ministry of the Environment caught two sharks - long-winged and black-winged, but they were not involved in the tragedy.
The Egyptian authorities consider shark attacks a rare occurrence and this situation arose only in one resort - Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, who arrived in Ukraine on a working visit, said today in Kyiv. According to him, to prevent further shark attacks, barriers will be built near the resting places.
However, the issue of protection from dangerous predators is relevant not only for Egypt. This year, Turkish fishermen caught three huge blue sharks in the Bosphorus Strait, near Istanbul. “And this is a consequence of global warming,” says oceanographer Yevgeny Gubanov. “The fact is that the water in the Sea of Marmara and then the Black Sea is gradually warming up. Sharks in search of food began to swim farther and farther from the Mediterranean Sea, and if the warming continues at such a high pace, then in ten years dangerous predators will be found off the coast of the Crimea and the Caucasus.
In the Black Sea, which is friendly to humans, there are no dangerous fish and animals. The only Black Sea shark, the katran, usually does not exceed a meter in length, keeps at depth, rarely swims to the shore and is afraid of people. It can only be dangerous for fishermen when they take it with their hands - both of its dorsal fins are equipped with large poisonous spikes, which is why it is also called a prickly shark.
The mass media of the peninsula report a tragedy that happened three days ago in the resort village of Ordzhonikidze. According to numerous eyewitnesses, an unknown sea creature attacked a young woman just a few dozen meters from the shore.
A woman was attacked by a goblin shark?
Underwater creature bit the stomach of the victim. Summer is coming to an end and calling these messages “another attempt to disrupt the holiday season” is simply silly.
The tragedy broke out in the evening, when it was getting dark outside, but there were still people on the beach, says Moscow eyewitness Dmitry. - Two girls decided to swim, swam not far from the shore. Suddenly one of them sank like a stone. The second managed to grab her friend by the hair and pull her out with a jerk. By some miracle, she did not let the creature drown her prey! ..
In a state of shock, the girls got out of the water. The victim had a large piece of abdominal muscles and viscera torn out near the spleen itself.
An unconscious tourist was taken to the First City Hospital of Feodosia. A few hours later, the girl died. At first, doctors confirmed the shocking information. However, today Chief Physician Viktor Symonenko suddenly began to assert that "nothing happened."
The attack of an unknown cannibal stirred up the resort coast. Among the versions - a crocodile that escaped from the zoo, sharks or the notorious Karadag monster. “Perhaps the wounds were caused by a monk seal, which is very rare in our country, but can grow up to three meters,” suggests the deputy. Alexander Boltachev, Director for Research at the Institute of Biology of the South Seas.
Last summer, a Nile crocodile actually slipped away from a traveling zoo on the nearby Sea of Azov. This season, no such reports have been recorded. But it is known that the owners of several dozen fashionable estates of the Crimean South Coast keep toothy creatures, and a month ago a large "crocodile house" was solemnly opened in the center of Yalta.
Not everything is so simple and with the optimistic statement that "there were no cases of shark attacks in the Black Sea."
Goblin 2
In the last December broadcasts of 2010, Russian television people gave birth to unprecedented news. !
This is the name of a monster shark with a long beak-shaped muzzle and ugly jaws pushed forward. The skin of this creature is translucent, and the blood vessels show through it. The largest known specimen of the "goblin" reached a length of 3.8 meters and weighed 210 kilograms.
Following the Moscow colleagues, the shark theme became a hit on the central Ukrainian channel 1 + 1 and the newspaper Fakty, the largest national publication in Ukraine.
Until now, it was believed that such a deep-sea shark lives in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan, although even there it is very rare. How the "goblin" ended up in the Black Sea, where the salinity of the water is different, is not clear. For Crimea, the capture of a shark has become a serious emergency. An information ban was imposed on the topic, which only fueled interest in the monster ...
High officials of the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency Situations confiscated the prey, the fishermen were forbidden to communicate with the press under the threat of serious administrative repressions.
Scientists have put forward a version that the caught copy of the goblin shark, not the largest of its kind, ended up in the waters of the Black Sea thanks to rich lovers of exotic fauna.
Perhaps they were brought for a private aquarium. Many yachts enter Sevastopol and, most likely, she fell overboard, - believes Yulia Korneichuk, researcher at the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas.- Recently, mainly due to human activity, there has been a huge number of such “migrants”. Many species fall into an unnatural habitat for themselves and live ...
After two weeks of waiting, the Ukrainian authorities issued a categorical denial about the capture of a “mutant shark” near Sevastopol and expressed their “perplexity at the incessant appearance of publications on this topic.”
Oleksandr Boltachev was instructed to refute personally the deputy for scientific work of the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Through the government news agency UNIAN, he authoritatively stated that the monster shark in Crimea was a "duck".
This fish was not caught in the Black Sea! Because such trawls are not currently used in the Black Sea. These are typical bottom trawls that are used in the Russian Far East, - the deputy loudly asserted. director.
In fact, exactly the same "forbidden" bottom trawls are actively used today throughout the Azov-Black Sea basin.
In addition, for some reason, the scientist clarified that this shark "is not dangerous, because, firstly, it lives at great depths, and secondly, it does not reach large sizes."
The Serpent Returns
...The terrible jaws of the "goblin" guest are quite capable of tearing out the intestines of a tourist from the village of Ordzhonikidze. Although the locals claim that another victim was taken by their own Karadag monster.
Near the village and the elite resort of Koktebel is the famous natural reserve Kara-Dag: a phantasmagoric heap of coastal rocks and hundreds of underwater caves of an extinct volcano. In Soviet times, the zone was closed - special forces of the Navy were based here and tested secret equipment.
Naturally, all the disappearances of people in such a zone were also classified as "secret". But there is a description of the beginning of the twentieth century, made by another eyewitness, a famous writer Vsevolod Ivanov:"It was up to 30 meters long and as thick as a desk top when turned sideways, and the head - the size of an arm span - resembled a snake."
In August 1921, the Feodosiya city newspaper reported on the next coming of the “sea reptile”, urging them to remain calm and not to lose vigilance. The snake was unsuccessfully caught by a detachment of Red Army soldiers and employees of the Cheka. Koktebel resident Maximilian Voloshin told about the incident to his guest Mikhail Bulgakov. It is believed that it was this story that inspired Mikhail Afanasyevich the plot of the story "Fatal Eggs".
New photos of the 90s, which allegedly depict the Karadag monster, are kept former director of the reserve Petr Semenkov and researcher Vladimir Maltsev. Alas, scientists refuse to provide pictures and discuss the topic for some reason: they say, the topic is completely non-scientific.
At the same time, dolphins were thrown out, to which someone “chopped off” their stomachs with one bite. The width of the bite along the arc recorded by the inspection protocol was almost a meter! Representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian academies of sciences left for the scene. But in the refrigerator of the reserve, unknown people turned off the light and the dolphin carcasses rotted ...
The storm washes away all traces
Perhaps this is a coincidence, but the next morning after the current attack by an unknown monster, an incredible storm broke out in the Eastern Crimea. The waves roared on the shore and carried everything that stood in their way into the sea.
With such a storm, any attempts to pursue the sea man-eater were excluded.
Only according to official data on the coast between Feodosia and Sudak, three people died, including a child. The fate of eight more people is unknown, their relatives turned to the police for help in the search.
The storm raged the most not far from Kara-Dag in the village of Novy Svet. The riot of nature seemed to be mixed with human insanity. The breakers knocked down, dragged under the water, but the holiday-makers with some maniacal persistence climbed into the sea, the excitement of which was four points.
In fact, they went to swim, realizing that they could die. The beach had to be blocked by a chain.
Meanwhile, reports of disappearances at sea continue to come in. In the Crimean headquarters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, they declare the simultaneous disappearance of a 26-year-old Muscovite and a young resident of the Kiev region: both guys dived into the storm and did not swim out. They are looking for. Yesterday in Gurzuf, during a 5-point storm, another Russian died. The 44-year-old man went swimming and was unable to return to the rocky shore on his own. Before the eyes of the entire beach, it was smashed against boulders. Rescue sailors pulled the body ashore with a rope.
On Saturday, the 12th International TV and Film Forum "Together" began its work in Yalta. By tradition, the forum participants laid flowers at the monument to the Lady with the Dog on the embankment. Although from here to the surf line several hundred meters, the waves rose so high that the spray covered the guests and spectators at the monument with their heads.
The only one who dared to swim in the raging sea was an actor Alexander Mikhailov. The star of the Soviet movie hit “Love and Doves” was hit hard by the waves on the beach pebbles. He admits that it was only a miracle that he did not die.
On the shores of the Black Sea there are densely populated countries, but at the same time the reservoir is completely isolated from the open oceans. Such conditions are rather unattractive for such dangerous aquatic predators as sharks. Despite this, many tourists, going on vacation to the Black Sea coast, are wondering if there are sharks in the Black Sea.
The growth of such interest is due, as a rule, to the increasing cases of shark attacks on vacationers at various resorts in the world.
Which sharks are dangerous to humans?
To date, there are about 450 species of sharks in the world, which differ in size, living conditions and life. For example, the length of the body of the smallest shark does not exceed 170 mm, but representatives of the largest predators can reach 20 meters or more in length. 
Such impressive parameters are distinguished by the whale shark, which is also considered the largest fish on the planet. But it should not be assumed that the large size of the shark necessarily indicates its aggressiveness towards people.
So, whale sharks never attack swimmers, because they feed exclusively on plankton. Of particular danger to a person can be his meeting with: a bull shark, which leads in the number of attacks on a person; a white shark, which was taken as the main character of many films about these predatory inhabitants of the oceans, which is not unreasonable; tiger shark, which is characterized by the highest prevalence throughout the globe; a long-winged shark, also belonging to an extremely dangerous species;
shark - mako; the gray reef shark, which often attacks divers; hammerhead shark (attacks quite rarely); the sand shark, which also attacks swimmers on rare occasions; the blue shark, whose known number of attacks on humans does not exceed 40 cases, a quarter of which nevertheless led to the death of the victim; lemon shark, which is also credited with a certain aggressiveness and danger towards humans, despite the absence of serious attacks. 
Sharks in the Black Sea.
Sharks still live in the Black Sea, but the identified species do not pose any danger to humans.
We are talking about the spotted or cat shark skillum and the katran shark, which is also popularly called the sea dog or prickly shark.
shark katran The size of representatives of this species of sharks, as a rule, does not exceed one and a half meters, and only in rare cases have fish been recorded about 2 meters long. Sharks of this type do not belong to centenarians, because their life expectancy does not exceed 20 years. The basis of food is small fish. 
As a rule, sea dogs can most often be found only in the depths of the sea, because their appearance on the surface of the sea is a rarity. Sharks move and hunt mainly in packs. Cat shark It should be noted that the cat shark does not belong to the permanent inhabitants of the Black Sea, because more familiar conditions for its living are formed in the Mediterranean Sea and on the Atlantic coast.
Researchers confirm the fact that representatives of this type of sharks enter the Black Sea through the Bosphorus
The cat shark is distinguished by its small size and short life span. So, the length of fish rarely reaches 1 meter, but cat sharks live no longer than 12 years, while giving preference to coastal and near-bottom areas. 
The main diet of sharks is represented by a variety of sedentary organisms that can be found at the bottom of the sea, but hunting for active fish for representatives of this species of sharks is a rarity.
Are "guests" from the Mediterranean dangerous?
Both species of sharks found in the Black Sea do not pose any danger to humans. But given the fact that the cat shark most often swims from the Mediterranean Sea, many have a well-founded question regarding the likelihood of movement and more dangerous "guests". In fact, dangerous predators live in the Mediterranean Sea, the number of varieties of which reaches 50. At the same time, sharks have been repeatedly discovered, which are credited with the highest danger in relation to humans. We are talking about the bull shark and white. Researchers assure that dangerous predators can get into the Black Sea through the Bosphorus, but very quickly return back, due to unfavorable living conditions. 
The fact is that the Black Sea has a lower salt content, and therefore uninvited "guests" return without even sailing far from the Bosphorus. Unfavorable living conditions for dangerous predators in the waters of the Black Sea are also represented by the lack of a full-fledged food supply and the temperature difference with the transition to the winter period, when the water temperature can drop to 9 degrees. In such conditions, dangerous predators are simply not able to survive and adapt, so you can safely go on vacation to the Black Sea without fear of meeting with predators.
For many, it is a discovery, but it is a fact - sharks are found in the Black Sea. It is home to many species of living organisms, and two species of these predators live on its territory.
Dogfish
The first is called Katran (this shark is also called prickly or sea dog). Katran can sometimes grow to sizes of more than two meters. And reach a mass of 25 kilograms. The body of the fish is covered with small scales and has a streamlined shape adapted for the habitat of a predator in the Black Sea. This shape helps to easily overcome the resistance of water and swim at high speed.
Katran. Photo: http://goldrybak.ru
The color of the body on the back and sides is dark gray. In these places there may be spots of white color. The shark has a pointed snout and a long body. Below on the muzzle there is a mouth, which is bent in a semicircle downwards, giving the impression that the fish is constantly grinning angrily.
For a shark of this species, the search for food in the Black Sea depends on the season. In winter, Katran tries to stay at a considerable depth, about 100 - 150 meters, where it feasts on the fry of horse mackerel and anchovy. In summer, Katran rises to depths in the region of 40 - 45 meters and feeds here on sprats and whiting. The average life expectancy of this predator in the Black Sea is 25 years.
cat shark
The second type of predatory fish in the Black Sea is called Scillium. Or in another way - a cat shark. This shark does not reach large sizes and does not grow more than one meter.
cat shark Photo: http://www.lowbird.com/
In the Black Sea, Katran and Scillium behave very aggressively towards their victims, but these sharks do not pose a particular threat to humans. The only thing that is dangerous is the thorns on the body of Katran. You can accidentally cut yourself on them, and the mucus that covers the spines has poisonous properties. So it’s true - there are sharks in the Black Sea, but they don’t pose a particular danger to humans.
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