Hot on the caudal fin of Tripwire Interactive’s bloody aquatic epic Maneater, Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ summer season fills its seas with man-eating beasts. Animal Crossing’s sharks don’t actually eat people and can be caught by a single human holding a flimsy fishing pole, but that just makes them more lovable.
Nothing like standing on the shores of a tropical island reeling in great whites, vicious predators that can grow up to 21 feet long and weigh over a ton. Great white sharks are one of several varieties of cartilaginous fish phased into Animal Crossing: New Horizons with the changing of the seasons. The great whites, whale sharks, saw sharks, and hammerheads are all active starting in June and ending in September.
Sharks are pretty easy to spot while fishing on your private island. Unlike regular fish, shark silhouettes sport a telltale fin when swimming off the shoreline. Well, mostly telltale: The symbiotic suckerfish also sports a fin, so try to keep your excitement in check, just in case.
I am delighted that sharks don’t use the basic fish silhouette. I can barely tell a huge fish from a simply large fish, so knowing there’s a good chance I’ll get one of these huge water monsters is quite welcome.
My only wish is that my Animal Crossing villagers were more impressed by my shark-catching ability. They stop and clap politely if they see me holding a ginormous flesh-devouring fish with my bare hands, but mostly they seem bored. If I came into your house and presented a writhing, jaw-snapping hammerhead shark, would you freak the heck out, or would you react like Ankha?
That’s just rude.
Whale sharks will be showing up all day long through the end of September, with saw, great white, and hammerheads on a 4 PM to 9 AM schedule. They are an excellent reason for there not to be swimming and diving in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
And in case you think the rivers and lakes are safe…
…they are not. Happy fishing!