Diving with Sharks & Rays
Lanta Marine Life | Elasmobranchii
Unlike the bony fish, sharks & rays have a light-weight, flexible and durable skeleton made of cartilage. It's the same grisly stuff your ears and nose tip are made of, and it's only about half the normal density of bone. We have a chance to see sharks & rays at all the dive sites around Koh Lanta.
This light-weight skeleton allows sharks and rays to swim faster and use less energy than other bony fishes. As sharks age, calcium salts begin to accumulate in the cartilage skeleton to strengthen it. That's why dried shark jaws feel heavy and solid like bone.
Sharks and Rays have five to seven pairs of gill clefts which can open independently, rigid dorsal fins and small bony, pointed, tooth-shaped scales on the skin.
The teeth are arranged in multiple rows and are replaced continually, with some species of shark getting through up to 35,000 teeth in their lifetime.
Unlike other fish which rely on swim bladders for buoyancy, sharks have large livers full of a low-density oil which provides buoyancy. The oil-filled liver can be up to 20% of the total animal weight.
Most sharks have excellent eyesight, enhanced by small electroreceptor organs near their eyes, nose and mouth that can sense electromagnetic fields and temperature changes in the sea. These special sensing organs look like small black spots and can help sharks to sense food many miles away.
Sharks and rays reproduce by internal fertilization, and usually lay large, heavy-shelled eggs or give birth to live young.
Diving with Sharks & Rays around Koh Lanta
Scuba Diving & Snorkel Trips
If you'd love a chance to spot Sharks & Rays on one of our daily high season diving trips from Koh Lanta then send us an email to info@diveandrelax.com.
Join our high season speedboat dive trips to some of Thailand's best dive sites and enjoy small groups, short journey times, with a focus on great personal service, safety and fun.
Not yet a certified diver? Learn to Scuba Dive on Koh Lanta with the 3 day SSI Open Water Diver course.
Book online to save 10% on dive trips and scuba courses on Koh Lanta.
Find Out More
Indo-Pacific Marine Life Guides
- Allen, G., Steene, R., Humann, P., DeLoach, N. (2003) Reef Fish Identification, Tropical Pacific. Jacksonville, FL., USA: New World Publications, Inc., ISBN 1-878348-36-1.
- Humann, P., DeLoach, N., (2010) Reef Creature Identification, Tropical Pacific. Jacksonville, FL., USA: New World Publications Inc., ISBN 978-1-878348-44-9
- Debelius, H. (2013) Indian Ocean Reef Guide. Frankfurt, Germany: IKAN - Unterwasserarchiv, ISBN 978-3-939767-52-7.
- Debelius, H. (2004) Nudibranchs and Sea Snails, Indo-Pacific Field Guide. Frankfurt, Germany: IKAN - Unterwasserarchiv, ISBN 3-925919-51-1
- Erhardt, H., Knop, D. (2015) Corals Indo-Pacific Field Guide. Frankfurt, Germany: IKAN - Unterwasserarchiv, ISBN 3-925919-69-4.
- Veron J.E.N., Stafford-Smith M.G., Turak E. and DeVantier L.M. (2016). Corals of the World