Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Are there sharks in the Caribbean Sea?
Marine biota in the region have representatives of both the Indian and Pacific oceans which were caught in the Caribbean before the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama four million years ago.[22] In the Caribbean Sea there are around 1,000 documented species of fish, including sharks (bull shark, tiger shark, silky shark and Caribbean reef shark), flying fish, giant oceanic manta ray, angel fish, spotfin butterflyfish, parrotfish, Atlantic Goliath grouper, tarpon and moray eels. Throughout the Caribbean there is industrial catching of lobster and sardines (off the coast of Yucatán Peninsula).
Caribbean reef sharks are sometimes seen resting motionless on the sea floor or inside caves; it is the first active shark species in which such a behavior was reported. In 1975, Eugenie Clark investigated the famed "sleeping sharks" inside the caves at Isla Mujeres off the Yucatan Peninsula, and determined that the sharks were not actually asleep as their eyes would follow divers. Clark speculated that freshwater upwellings inside the caves might loosen parasites on the sharks and produce an enjoyable "narcotic" effect. If threatened, Caribbean reef sharks sometimes perform a threat display, in which they swim in a short, jerky fashion with frequent changes in direction and repeated, brief (1–1.2 second duration) drops of the pectoral fins. This display is less pronounced than the better-known display of the grey reef shark ("C. amblyrhynchos").
The silky shark has a cosmopolitan distribution in marine waters warmer than . In the Atlantic Ocean, it is found from the U.S. state of Massachusetts to Spain in the north, and from southern Brazil to northern Angola in the south, including the Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. It occurs throughout the Indian Ocean, as far south as Mozambique in the west and Western Australia in the east, including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In the Pacific Ocean, the northern extent of its range runs from southern China and Japan to southern Baja California and the Gulf of California, while the southern extent runs from Sydney, Australia, to northern New Zealand to northern Chile. Based on life history differences, four distinct populations of silky sharks have been identified in ocean basins worldwide: in the northwestern Atlantic, in the western and central Pacific, in the eastern Pacific, and in the Indian Ocean.
A heavy-bodied shark with a "typical" streamlined shape, the Caribbean reef shark is difficult to distinguish from other large requiem shark species. It usually measures long; the maximum recorded length is and the maximum reported weight is . The coloration is dark gray or gray-brown above and white or white-yellow below, with an inconspicuous white band on the flanks. The fins are not prominently marked, and the undersides of the paired fins, the anal fin, and the lower lobe of the caudal fin are dusky.
Juvenile Caribbean reef sharks are preyed upon by larger sharks such as the tiger shark ("Galeocerdo cuvier") and the bull shark ("C. leucas"). Few parasites are known for this species; one is a dark variegated leech often seen trailing from its first dorsal fin. Off northern Brazil, juveniles seek out cleaning stations occupied by yellownose gobies ("Elacatinus randalli"), which clean the sharks of parasites while they lie still on the bottom. Horse-eye jacks ("Caranx latus") and bar jacks ("Carangoides ruber") routinely school around Caribbean reef sharks.
The Caribbean reef shark is up to 3 metres (10 ft) long, one of the largest apex predators in the reef ecosystem. Like the whitetip reef shark, they have been documented resting motionless on the sea bottom or inside caves, unusual behaviour for requiem sharks. Caribbean reef shark play a major role in shaping Caribbean reef communities. They are more active at night, with no evidence of seasonal changes in activity or migration. Juveniles tend to remain in a localized area throughout the year, while adults range over a wider area. The Caribbean reef shark feeds on a wide variety of reef-dwelling bony fishes and cephalopods, as well as some elasmobranchs such as eagle rays and yellow stingrays . Young sharks feed on small fishes, shrimps, and crabs. In turn, young sharks are preyed on by larger sharks such as the tiger shark and the bull shark.
The Caribbean monk seal, West Indian seal or sea wolf (as early explorers referred to it), "Neomonachus tropicalis", was a species of seal native to the Caribbean and is now believed to be extinct. The Caribbean monk seals' main predators were sharks and humans. Overhunting of the seals for oil and overfishing of their food sources are the established reasons for the seals' extinction. The last confirmed sighting of the Caribbean Monk Seal was in 1952 at Serranilla Bank, between Jamaica and Nicaragua. In 2008, the species was officially declared extinct in the United States after an exhaustive search for the seals that lasted for about five years. This analysis was conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Caribbean monk seals were closely related to the Hawaiian monk seals, which live around the Hawaiian Islands and are now endangered, and Mediterranean monk seals, another endangered species.
The cartoon starts with Barney driving a motor boat at sea, where he attempts to fish. After dropping the anchor, a sea lion assumes they're playing catch and brings the anchor back. Barney tricks the sea lion into swimming the other way by pretending to throw the anchor in one direction, then throws in another. Only his foot was tied to the rope, which causes Barney to fall in the sea, but the sea lion saves him. A fish is stuck in Barney's suit, in which the sea lion, in an attempt to catch the fish with a trident, pokes Barney's backside. The fish gets out of Barney's suit, lands back in the water and the sea lion aides Barney in catching it. After chasing it into a cave, the sea lion unsuccessfully tries to warn Barney of an oncoming shark, but Barney dismisses his warning, instead he shoos it away. The sea lion came back, trying to warn him again, but eventually flees after seeing the shark is coming and leaving the unnoticed bear alone. The shark pulls up behind Barney, bumping his bottom to face him. Barney, now thinking that is more of the sea lion's goading; he turns around and pokes it with his trident violently. Barney then stops, realizing that wasn't a sea lion, but an enraged shark that the sea lion warning him before. Barney tries evading the shark by pretending to be an underwater king, which fails. Barney tries hiding under a rock, which is soon revealed to be an octopus that swims away in fear, and the shark tries eating Barney. The sea lion tries to stop it by keeping the jaws open, to which the shark's teeth nibbles Barney in the rear. Barney and the sea lion get back to the boat with the shark in pursuit. The shark uses its fin to saw the boat in half and Barney tries reconnecting it. Using its tail as a propeller, the shark strikes the boat. But before the shark finally eats Barney, the anchor suddenly lands on its head and Barney and the sea lion use the shark to ride back to land as the cartoon irises out.
Tiger sharks can be seen in the Gulf of Mexico, North American beaches, and parts of South America. It is also commonly observed in the Caribbean Sea. Other locations where tiger sharks are seen include off Africa, China, India, Australia, and Indonesia.
Following shakedown in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea, "Shark" transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Diego, California on 4 March 1937. She spent the next year and one-half in training exercises and Army-Navy war problems as a unit of Submarine Squadron 6 (SubRon 6). Following a regular overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, "Shark" got underway from San Diego on 16 December 1938 bound for Pearl Harbor and reassignment to SubRon 4.
The Caribbean reef shark ("Carcharhinus perezii") is a species of requiem shark, belonging to the family Carcharhinidae. It is found in the tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Brazil, and is the most commonly encountered reef shark in the Caribbean Sea. With a robust, streamlined body typical of the requiem sharks, this species is difficult to tell apart from other large members of its family such as the dusky shark ("C. obscurus") and the silky shark ("C. falciformis"). Distinguishing characteristics include dusky-colored fins without prominent markings, a short free rear tip on the second dorsal fin, and tooth shape and number.
The bignose shark is found near the edge of the continental shelf and over the upper continental slope, generally swimming close to the sea floor at depths of . Young sharks may venture into water as shallow as . Night-time captures of this species from close to the surface suggest it may perform a diel vertical migration, moving from deep water upwards or toward the coast at night. In the northwestern Atlantic, the bignose shark conducts a poorly documented seasonal migration, spending summer off the US East Coast and winter in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Individual sharks have been recorded traveling distances between .
After preliminary testing and fitting out, "Shark" sailed to the Caribbean Sea in May for her shakedown cruise. The submarine returned to her building yard for post-shakedown repairs and final acceptance by the Navy.
The shark is seen by divers in many places, including the Bay Islands in Honduras, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Maldives close to Maamigili (South Ari Atoll), the Red Sea, Western Australia (Ningaloo Reef, Christmas Island), Taiwan, Panama (Coiba Island), Belize, Tofo Beach in Mozambique, Sodwana Bay (Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park) in South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, Saint Helena, Isla Mujeres (Caribbean Sea), La Paz, Baja California Sur and Bahía de los Ángeles in Mexico, the Seychelles, West Malaysia, islands off eastern peninsular Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Fujairah, Puerto Rico, and other parts of the Caribbean. Juveniles can be found near the shore in the Gulf of Tadjoura, near Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa.
There is currently no robust estimate of the global whale shark population. The species is considered endangered by the IUCN due to the impacts of fisheries, bycatch losses, and vessel strikes, combined with its long lifespan and late maturation. In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the whale shark as "Migrant" with the qualifier "Secure Overseas" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.
The Caribbean reef shark occurs throughout the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, from North Carolina in the north to Brazil in the south, including Bermuda, the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. However, it is extremely rare north of the Florida Keys. It prefers shallow waters on or around coral reefs, and is commonly found near the drop-offs at the reefs' outer edges. This shark is most common in water shallower than , but has been known to dive to .
Special effects artist Russell Shearman died from a shark attack while filming underwater scenes for "The Sharkfighters" in the Caribbean Sea off Cuba.
Despite its abundance in certain areas, the Caribbean reef shark is one of the least-studied large requiem sharks. They are believed to play a major role in shaping Caribbean reef communities. These sharks are more active at night, with no evidence of seasonal changes in activity or migration. Juveniles tend to remain in a localized area throughout the year, while adults range over a wider area.
The Caribbean reef shark feeds on a wide variety of reef-dwelling bony fishes and cephalopods, as well as some elasmobranchs such as eagle rays ("Aetobatus narinari") and yellow stingrays ("Urobatis jamaicensis"). It is attracted to low-frequency sounds, which are indicative of struggling fish. In one observation of a long male Caribbean reef shark hunting a yellowtail snapper ("Lutjanus crysurus"), the shark languidly circled and made several seemingly "half-hearted" turns towards its prey, before suddenly accelerating and swinging its head sideways to capture the snapper at the corner of its jaws. Young sharks feed on small fishes, shrimps, and crabs. Caribbean reef sharks are capable of everting their stomachs, which likely serves to cleanse indigestible particles, parasites, and mucus from the stomach lining.
Witnesses of the Beach Haven fatality estimated that the shark was long. A sea captain who saw the event believed it was a Spanish shark driven from the Caribbean Sea decades earlier by bombings during the Spanish–American War. Several fishermen claimed to have caught the "Jersey man-eater" in the days following the attacks. A blue shark was captured on July 14 near Long Branch, and four days later the same Thomas Cottrell who had seen the shark in Matawan Creek claimed to have captured a sandbar shark with a gillnet near the mouth of the creek.
"Oxynotus caribbaeus" is a small shark found in the upper continental slope of Venezuela; it is easily distinguishable from other "Oxynotus" species. Adult males reach a maximum size of in length and the females are thought to grow even longer, although none has been examined. The Caribbean roughshark has a short, blunt snout and head. This chubby-looking shark looks nothing like the typical shark. It has two dorsal fins that help differentiate this shark from other "Oxynotus" species. Its first dorsal fin is inclined forward, is very long and thick, and triangular in shape. The second dorsal fin is similar to the first, although it is not as long. However, as some other "Oxynotus" species, the Caribbean roughshark does not have an anal fin. It has the typical shark coarse dermal denticles, but these are atypically large for the size of the shark. It contains small, circular spiracles at the dorsal base of its head. The supraorbital ridges are not expanded and do not form a knob in front of the spiracles. It has lanceolate upper teeth, containing 12 rows and lower bladelike teeth containing 12 rows.
Initially, scientists thought the sharks in Lake Nicaragua belonged to an endemic species, the Lake Nicaragua shark ("Carcharhinus nicaraguensis"). In 1961, following specimen comparisons, taxonomists synonymized them. They can jump along the rapids of the San Juan River (which connects Lake Nicaragua and the Caribbean Sea), almost like salmon. Bull sharks tagged inside the lake have later been caught in the open ocean (and ""), with some taking as few as seven to 11 days to complete the journey.
A now disproven theory is that it derives from the Yucatec Maya word "xok" (pronounced 'shok'), meaning "fish". 
Evidence for this etymology came from the Oxford English Dictionary, which notes "shark" first came into use after Sir John Hawkins' sailors exhibited one in London in 1569 and posted ""sharke"" to refer to the large sharks of the Caribbean Sea. However, the Middle English Dictionary records an isolated occurrence of the word "shark" (referring to a sea fish) in a letter written by Thomas Beckington in 1442, which rules out a New World etymology.
Measuring up to long, the Caribbean reef shark is one of the largest apex predators in the reef ecosystem, feeding on a variety of fishes and cephalopods. They have been documented resting motionless on the sea bottom or inside caves, unusual behavior for an active-swimming shark. If threatened, it may perform a threat display in which it frequently changes direction and dips its pectoral fins. Like other requiem sharks, it is viviparous with females giving birth to 4–6 young every other year. Caribbean reef sharks are of some importance to fisheries as a source of meat, leather, liver oil, and fishmeal, but recently they have become more valuable as an ecotourist attraction. In the Bahamas and elsewhere, bait is used to attract them to groups of divers in controversial "shark feedings". This species is responsible for a small number of attacks on humans. The shark attacks usually happen in spring and summer.
The Caribbean roughshark ("Oxynotus caribbaeus") is a rough shark of the family Oxynotidae, found on the upper continental slopes of the Caribbean Sea, at depths between . It reaches a length around .
A profitable ecotourism industry has arisen around this species involving organized "shark feeds", in which groups of reef sharks are attracted to divers using bait. Some US$6,000,000 is spent annually on shark viewing in the Bahamas, where at some sites a single living Caribbean reef shark has a value between US$13,000 and US$40,000 (compared to a one-time value of US$50–60 for a dead shark). This practice has drawn controversy, as opponents argue that the sharks may learn to associate humans with food, increasing the chances of a shark attack, and that the removal of reef fishes for bait may damage the local ecosystem. Conversely, proponents maintain that shark feeds contribute to conservation by incentivizing the protection of sharks and educating people about them. Thus far, there has been little evidence that shark feeds have increased the risk of attack in the surrounding area. Shark feeding has been outlawed off the coast of Florida, but continues at other locations in the Caribbean.