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Ocean Calling

Ocean Atlas · Animals

Sharks

Milk shark

Rhizoprionodon acutus

A small, slim shark that most visitors will never notice, and that keeps to shallow, sandy water. No sighting is a promise.

VulnerableIn 33 Atlas countries

Vulnerable (IUCN, 2020) means it is at high risk of extinction in the wild. Heavy fishing across its range is the main concern.

Length

Most adults are about 1.1 m (3.6 ft). Up to 1.75 m (5.7 ft) is listed, but the identity of the largest West African specimens is uncertain. Newborns are about 25 to 39 cm (10 to 15 in)

Weight

FishBase lists a maximum of 5 kg (11 lb). Some West African specimens of up to 22 kg (49 lb) have been reported, but their species identity is uncertain

Next to a person

Usually a little shorter than an adult is tall, and much lighter than a person

What it eats

Mainly small bony fish, from open water and the seabed, plus squid, octopus, cuttlefish, crabs, shrimp and snails. Smaller sharks take more cephalopods and crustaceans, then switch more to fish as they grow.

Around people

Calm, give space

How it lives

The milk shark gives birth to live young, which develop with a placenta. Litters are 1 to 8 pups, typically 2 to 5, after a pregnancy of about a year. Sharks mature at about 2 to 3 years, and the oldest known age is at least 8 years. They also enter very shallow water, and one has been recorded in freshwater in Cambodia's Great Lake.

Where it goes

Milk sharks live over the continental shelf, from the surface to about 200 m, often in turbid water off sandy beaches. In Sal Rei Bay on Boa Vista, Cabo Verde, newborns and juveniles use a shallow, wave-sheltered sandy area of about 22 sq km, mostly under 10 m deep. Numbers there were highest in summer and autumn. Researchers have called the bay a nursery area shared by several shark species.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

The IUCN assessed the milk shark as Vulnerable in 2020. It is caught across its range in small-scale and commercial fisheries for meat, fins and fishmeal. I did not find a population estimate. In Sal Rei Bay, a 2016 to 2019 study recorded 4,908 milk sharks out of 6,162 newborn and juvenile sharks of five species. Most were 40 to 50 cm long, in a range of 30 to 70 cm. Those counts show how the bay is used, not the size of the population.

Meet it respectfully

Sal Rei Bay is a nursery, so keep it quiet. Do not net, hook, handle or lift young sharks, and keep boats and swimmers from crowding the shallows. Gillnets there catch newborns by accident, so avoid fishing from the beach. If a shark appears, watch from a distance and let it leave. I did not read any local rules for the bay, so follow what your guide tells you.

Fun fact

Tap the bulb to light it up.

Where you may meet it

Milk shark in the Ocean Atlas

Places we have researched where this animal is recorded. It is never guaranteed, and some places are for watching from the boat only.

FijiTanzaniaW. SaharaCanadaKazakhstanUzbekistanPapua New GuineaIndonesiaArgentinaDem. Rep. CongoSomaliaKenyaSudanChadRussiaFalkland Is.Fr. S. Antarctic LandsTimor-LesteSouth AfricaLesothoUruguayBrazilFranceZimbabweBotswanaNamibiaSenegalMaliMauritaniaBeninNigerNigeriaCameroonTogoGhanaCôte d'IvoireGuineaGuinea-BissauLiberiaSierra LeoneBurkina FasoCentral African Rep.CongoGabonEq. GuineaZambiaMalawiMozambiqueeSwatiniAngolaBurundiIsraelLebanonMadagascarPalestineGambiaTunisiaAlgeriaJordanUnited Arab EmiratesQatarKuwaitIraqOmanVanuatuCambodiaThailandLaosMyanmarVietnamNorth KoreaSouth KoreaMongoliaIndiaBangladeshBhutanNepalPakistanAfghanistanTajikistanKyrgyzstanTurkmenistanIranSyriaArmeniaRomaniaBulgariaGreeceTurkeyAlbaniaCroatiaPortugalSpainNew CaledoniaSolomon Is.New ZealandAustraliaSri LankaChinaTaiwanItalyAzerbaijanGeorgiaPhilippinesMalaysiaBruneiEritreaJapanParaguayYemenSaudi ArabiaN. CyprusCyprusMoroccoEgyptLibyaEthiopiaDjiboutiSomalilandUgandaRwandaBosnia and Herz.MacedoniaSerbiaMontenegroKosovoS. SudanSal, Cabo VerdeBoa Vista, Cabo VerdeBaird Bay and Eyre Peninsula, AustraliaBarunguba and Narooma, AustraliaBremer Bay, AustraliaCairns, Port Douglas and the Ribbon Reefs, AustraliaChristmas Island, AustraliaCocos (Keeling) Islands, AustraliaLady Elliot Island, AustraliaLord Howe Island, AustraliaNingaloo, AustraliaRowley Shoals, AustraliaTasman Peninsula and Eaglehawk Neck, AustraliaMaria Island and the east coast, AustraliaKribi and Ebodje coast, CameroonDouala-Edea coast, CameroonBanc d'Arguin National Park, MauritaniaNouadhibou and Cap Blanc, MauritaniaLagos coast and Lekki, NigeriaBadagry coast, NigeriaTrincomalee and Nilaveli, Sri LankaTofo, MozambiqueKavieng and New Ireland, Papua New GuineaKimbe Bay, Papua New GuineaMilne Bay, Papua New GuineaTufi (Oro Province), Papua New GuineaIfaty and Mangily, MadagascarNosy Be, MadagascarÎle Sainte-Marie, MadagascarAda Foah and the Volta estuary, GhanaMuni-Pomadze, GhanaMayumba National Park, GabonLoango National Park, GabonGrand-Béréby, Côte d'IvoireAmed, Bali, IndonesiaGili Trawangan, IndonesiaKomodo, IndonesiaGili Air, IndonesiaMaratua and Derawan, IndonesiaRaja Ampat, IndonesiaNusa Penida, IndonesiaLovina, Bali, IndonesiaGrand Kru coast, LiberiaLittle Bassa and Rivercess, LiberiaTurtle Islands and Sherbro Island, Sierra LeoneFreetown peninsula, Sierra LeoneOrango Grande and Orango National Park, Guinea-BissauPoilao Island, Guinea-BissauAliwal Shoal and Umkomaas, South AfricaCape Town and Hermanus, South AfricaSodwana Bay, South AfricaTristao Islands, GuineaPerhentian Islands, MalaysiaTioman Island, MalaysiaLakshadweep (Agatti, Bangaram, Kadmat), IndiaNetrani and Murudeshwar, IndiaSwaraj Dweep (Havelock) and Barren Island, IndiaCoron, Palawan, PhilippinesMoalboal, Cebu, PhilippinesPanglao and Balicasag, Bohol, PhilippinesSiquijor, PhilippinesApo Island and Dauin, PhilippinesApo Reef, PhilippinesBoracay, PhilippinesEl Nido and Bacuit Bay, PhilippinesPort Barton and San Vicente, PhilippinesTubbataha Reefs, PhilippinesSaloum Delta, SenegalConkouati-Douli National Park, Republic of the CongoPointe-Noire coast, Republic of the CongoSouthern Bioko beaches, Equatorial GuineaIona National Park coast, AngolaKissama National Park coast, AngolaBouche du Roy and Grand-Popo, BeninDhofar and the Hallaniyat Islands, OmanMusandam and Khasab, OmanMuscat and the Daymaniyat Islands, OmanAbu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesLomé to Aného coast, TogoMafia Island, TanzaniaMikindani and Mnazi Bay, TanzaniaZanzibar - Matemwe, Mnemba and Chumbe, TanzaniaMuanda and the Mangroves Marine Park, Democratic Republic of the CongoDahlak Archipelago and Dahlak Marine National Park, EritreaXiaoliuqiu, TaiwanHualien, Taiwan

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Country colour: pink where we travel, blue where we are exploring or refer, grey for story only.

AngolaAustraliaBeninCabo VerdeCameroonCôte d'IvoireDemocratic Republic of the CongoEquatorial GuineaEritreaGabonGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIndiaIndonesiaLiberiaMadagascarMalaysiaMauritaniaMozambiqueNigeriaOmanPapua New GuineaPhilippinesRepublic of the CongoSenegalSierra LeoneSouth AfricaSri LankaTaiwanTanzaniaTogoUnited Arab Emirates
Sources for this page

Facts checked 5 October 2026. Photos: Unsplash licence, or Creative Commons as shown on each photo.

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