The Leopard Shark, King of the Kelp                         Forest

This is a picture of a leopard shark in a kelp forest

Hello everyone, recently Aidan and I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and got inspired for our blog. We didn't know what to choose from, out of all the animals in the aquarium. I don't know why I agreed to a shark, since I'm terrifically afraid of them, but since I did, I can't drop out now. (P.S. Due to my phobia of them, this blog is NOT going to have extremely scary facts about sharks.)

Diet:
The leopard shark's diet mainly consists of invertebrates, for example crabs, clams, octopus and shrimp, and small, bony fish, such as anchovies and herring. They also eat bat rays and guitarfish.  

Predators:

Leopard sharks are more predators than prey, but they do have one predator, which is the broadnose sevengill shark, as the great white, top of the food chain,does not enter kelp forests and prefers deeper waters, although occasionally it will eat a broadnose sevengill shark. 

Habitat:

Leopard sharks live in kelp forests, as we mentioned earlier. Kelp forests are areas in the sea and ocean, mainly found on the West Coast of the U.S.A. Kelp is the fastest growing type of seaweed, and can grow up to various feet in just one day. Leopard sharks prefer temperate, intertidal (in the tide) waters near land, where kelp forests are commonly found, and usually venture somewhere around four meters deep in the water.

Length:

Male leopard sharks are generally 150 centimeters long, about the length of a picnic table, and females are around 180 centimeters, 30 centimeters longer. 

Weight:

Leopard sharks are usually 19 kilograms, at maximum. 

Fun Fact!

No individual leopard shark has the same distinct markings, just like a human fingerprint, or a zebra's stripes.