Starry smooth-hound (Mustelus asterias) & Tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus)
The salmon are still going strong, but I wanted to throw these out because I keep forgetting to upload them... so finally: say hello to these two sleek beauties. A good while back (like, embarrassingly long ago to upload this now) I was asked by Sealcentre Pieterburen to paint some sharks. Although their core task consists of rescuing and rehabilitating seals, they also aim to educate the public about the North Sea and its diverse wildlife. For an upcoming shark exhibition I made two sets of paintings of these two species: one scientific illustration each, and a set of simpler drawings showing some key behaviours, which I’ll upload next.
Like the salmon, these were fascinating and so different to paint. I especially enjoyed the Starry smooth-hound with their huge, gorgeous eyes, delicate spots, subtle coloured body and translucent fins. But topes, also known as school sharks, are fascinating in their own right: their sleek body reveals a migratory nature and individuals from Australia have been known to travel over 1200 kilometers along the coast, while others popped up in New Zealand. While starry smooth-hounds are doing well in most of their range, topes are in danger of over-exploitation. They are caught for their liver and meat, but most of all for their fins - their other name, ‘soupfin shark’ reveals why. Sadly, many sharks are direly under-protected and over-exploited, both in targeted fisheries as well as massive bycatch.
