Sharks are a major fauna type encountered in Stranded Deep. They can be found in any part of the ocean - both shallow and deep. The type of shark that can be found depends on the location being explored.
There are 2 categories of sharks:
Passive sharks
Aggressive sharks
Passive Sharks
Passive sharks do not attack the player and will only swim around them out of curiosity. Both whale sharks and marlins are usually found outside the island territory, in the open sea, randomly approaching and going away from the player. These sharks may or may not flee after getting attacked, which can potentially give a hard time to any player who is trying to catch one.
Since they are friendly, any weapon or tool can be used to hunt them, although a safer option would be ranged weapons due to aggressive sharks being able to come over whenever they feel like it (keep in mind that it is a rare occasion for sharks to be seen together).
You can find more detailed information about each passive shark in their respective pages.
Aggressive Sharks
Aggressive sharks will always attack the player when in close proximity. Hammerhead and tiger sharks are usually found in shallow waters, near the islands, while great white and goblin sharks in deeper ones. Each aggressive shark behaves and hunts differently, so it is recommended to read their respective pages for more detailed information.
Every aggressive shark has a low chance of fleeing when low on health, but they usually come back after a while. It is highly recommended to hunt them with ranged weapons, such as crude spears, refined spears and the speargun due to their damage and huge advantage underwater. Every aggressive shark will also attempt to throw the player off their raft by bumping into it, the strength of the bump depends on the shark.
General information
When killed, a shark's two main uses are skinning them for rawhide and large meat or keeping them as a trophy.
Shark meat does not spoil until it gets harvested by skinning them with a refined knife, meaning a player can keep them infinitely and always have fresh emergency meat. It is highly recommended to skin the shark to get its rawhide and keep the meat in the shark for later use.
Blacktip Reef Sharks exist and can be found in shallow waters, but currently they are purely aesthetic.