Critically Endangered
There are 15 kinds of angel sharks, also called Monkfish, many of which are critically endangered. Unlike land animals, it really is almost impossible to know how many sharks there are. They know the sightings have declined considerably and they are only doing fairly well in the Canary Islands. Numbers are slowly increasing in an area of Wales. The females are much larger than the males and they can grow to be almost 8 feet long. The largest recorded one was 180 pounds. They are pretty much nocturnal, stationary on the ocean floor during the day, mostly buried. They don't lay eggs, the young are born after 8-10 months gestation at about 9-12 inches long. Aristotle apparently commented on the fact that they have live young, which I think is kind of cool. Unfortunately they are used in shark liver oil and fishmeal, as well as being sold as food, often caught in drag nets, and struggle because of pollution and increased coastal development.
I'm not really painting a landscape for any of the animals because they, not the scenery are what I want people to focus on. I try to put the animals in their happy place. If I had done all sand for the background here, it would probably have been very confusing since they are ocean creatures. If I had done all blue that would have made sense to you the viewers, but would not have been what angel sharks prefer. So, I did a compromise and hopefully everyone is happy.
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