Oli's Ecology Blog

The Whitetip reef shark is one of the many inhabitants of the Hawaiian archipelago and 1 of 40 species of shark and 1 of 8 that roam near the shores. Below is a picture of a baby Whitetip reef shark that was accidentally found in a cave whilst free diving.

It has a distinct “white-tip” on the end of its dorsal and caudal fins. They love caves and coral reefs and often rest by day and hunt at night. I am guilty of catching this guy mid-rest, hopefully not waking him: https://youtu.be/KJ3SaR4g4g4

Unlike many sharks, white tip reef sharks are an example of requiem sharks that do not need to keep moving to breathe. The whitetip reef shark is also quite friendly and very rarely shows aggression to humans.

Whilst the population of whitetip reef sharks are not under threat, they have small litters and matures late so could become threatened in the future, if further ecological damage comes to their habitat. Additionally, whitetip reef sharks live in easily shallows waters where they are caught easily and they have a restricted habitat.

It has been reported by tropical fisheries multi-species shark catch reports that the whitetip reef shark is often taken inline or from shallow water net trawls. And heavily fished areas unlike the near shore areas of Hawaii, populations are especially under more threats. In some markets, the meat and liver are eaten and sold for human food. Although, the more profitable markets are ecotourism where the whitetip reef shark is a sought after animal to see when snorkelling, which attracts a huge amount of customers.

Image courtesy of: Nausicaá,https://www.nausicaa.fr/en/my-visit/animals/whitetip-reef-shark