There’s a reason tiger sharks have that name—they’re as fierce predators in the sea as their orange-and-black namesakes on land! Plus, as juveniles, tiger sharks have dark, vertical stripes which are harder to spot as they get older. Tiger sharks are bluish grey to dark grey on top and have white bellies which helps them blend into the surrounding waters from above and below. Tiger sharks can blend in only so much, though—their average length is around 14 feet, but they can be longer than 20 feet.

Tiger sharks are known for being aggressive, and it’s true that they are second only to great whites in numbers of shark attacks on humans. But the fact is that people are MUCH bigger threats to tiger sharks than tiger sharks are to people. Heavy harvesting for fins, skin and livers has left tiger sharks classified as “near threatened.” To top it off, tiger sharks have slow reproduction rates, so they have a hard time bouncing back to healthy populations.