In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Nurse Shark in 7 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.
The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.
Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.
At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Nurse Shark.
Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.
How to Draw a Nurse Shark - Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Draw the head by making a round cone shape, leaving the wide part open for the rest of the body.
Step 2: Next, add a small dot for the eye, and color it black. Nurse Sharks are nocturnal, and only come out at night.
Step 3: Draw the body by making two long curved lines. Make them a little closer together at the end. A Nurse Shark can reach up to two or three feet and can live for almost 20 years!
Step 4: Draw three triangular shapes along the bottom to draw the bottom fins. Nurse Sharks move very slowly and usually wait for food to come to it in a surprise attack!
Step 5: Next, draw two similar triangular shapes along the top for the top fins.
Step 6: To draw the tail, draw two wavy lines at the end of the body as shown.
Step 7: Finally, add four small lines behind the eyes for the gills. Color your Nurse Shark gray with a white belly.
Interesting Facts about Nurse Sharks
A Nurse Shark is a shark that lives near the bottom of the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. They like living near sandbars and coral reefs. A Nurse Shark stays in one place all year-round. They eat fish, shrimp, squid, octopus, crabs, sea snails, lobsters, and even coral. Nurse Sharks are slow animals and the colder the water, the slower they get. The normal size for an adult is 2-3 feet long.
Did you know?
- Nurse Sharks are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and hunt at night.
- People think the reason they are called “Nurse Sharks” is because they make a sucking noise like when a baby is nursing from its mother.
- A Nurse Shark can live for 15-20 years.
- They eat like a vacuum; a shark will place its mouth over a hole in the sand and suck food out for a meal.
- Because they move so slowly, the shark is able to wait for food to come to it and be tricked into an attack.
Activity: Not all races have to be about speed. For a fun change take your students outside for a “Nurse Shark Race.” The objective is to be the slowest person in the race. There can be a first, second, and third place and there can be laps too if necessary.
How to Draw a Nurse Shark – Step-By-Step Tutorial