Zebra Shark Colouring Page

The zebra shark has a surprising name because adults wear spots instead of zebra-like stripes. Young zebra sharks begin life with dark bodies crossed by pale bands, but as they grow, the pattern changes into many dark spots. This shark lives in warm, shallow parts of the Indo-West Pacific, from East Africa and the Red Sea across southern and eastern Asia to northern Australia and nearby islands. It prefers sandy areas, rocky bottoms and coral reefs, usually from the surface to about 60 metres deep. Adults can grow to about 2.5 metres long and are believed to live around 25 to 30 years. A zebra shark has a broad rounded head, five ridges along the adult body and an exceptionally long tail that may be nearly as long as the rest of the fish. During the day it often rests quietly on the bottom, sometimes facing into a current so water flows across its gills. At night it becomes active and searches reef crevices for molluscs, crustaceans, small fish and other prey, using its flexible body and strong suction feeding. The resting pose in this picture shows that calm daytime behaviour. Colour the shark's back sandy brown, golden tan or soft grey. Fill the outlined spots with dark brown, charcoal or navy, but keep the spaces between them lighter. You may colour the belly cream or pale grey. A slightly darker shade along the body ridges and the wonderfully long tail can help show its shape without heavy shading. Make the coral beside it pink, orange, purple or red, and use pale gold for the sand. Rocks can be warm grey, while bubbles and open water may be light turquoise and blue. Work from the shark's rounded head toward the tail with smooth pencil strokes. A sharp pencil or fine crayon tip will help inside the many spots, while the broad sandy spaces suit larger strokes. You can add tiny shell colours or a faint green seagrass patch, but keep the resting shark easy to see. Notice how different this gentle bottom-dweller looks from a fast, open-water shark. Your finished page can highlight its spotted adult pattern, long tail and peaceful life around tropical reefs.

◫ A4 size✎ Bold outlines♡ Ages 3–8

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Grown-up note: Please supervise printing and choose age-appropriate art materials.