Sharks

Whitetip reef shark

Triaenodon obesus

Whitetip reef sharks often spend the day resting under reef ledges, then hunt in reef crevices after dark. Many return to the same shelters again and again.

VulnerableIn 43 Atlas countries

Vulnerable (IUCN, 2020) means it is at high risk of extinction in the wild.

Whitetip reef sharks resting stacked in a reef crevice — Photo: Francisco Jesús Navarro Hernández on Unsplash

Whitetip reef shark resting among rocks on the seabed — Photo: Ewout Knoester, iNaturalist, CC BY-SA

Whitetip reef shark swimming past a coral wall — Photo: Alberto Alcalá, iNaturalist, CC BY

Whitetip reef shark cruising over sand — Photo: Robin White, iNaturalist, CC BY

Whitetip reef shark swimming over rocky reef — Photo: Alberto Alcalá, iNaturalist, CC BY

Whitetip reef shark swimming low over sandy bottom — Photo: keesgroenendijk, iNaturalist, CC BY

Whitetip reef shark swimming over a rocky reef — Photo: Ewout Knoester, iNaturalist, CC BY-SA

Whitetip reef shark above a school of small fish — Photo: lallen, iNaturalist, CC0

Photos show the species, not always the places on this page.

Length

Usually about 1.6 m (5.2 ft); largest recorded 2.13 m (7 ft)

Weight

Typical adult weight not reliably measured; heaviest published about 18.3 kg (40 lb)

Next to a person

About as long as a person is tall, but only about a quarter of the weight

What it eats

Bottom-living reef fish, octopus, spiny lobsters and crabs.

Around people

Calm, give space

How it lives

Whitetip reef sharks rest in caves or under ledges by day, often in small groups, and hunt at night, squeezing into reef crevices that other sharks cannot reach. They are social and not territorial, and return to the same caves for months or even years. Females give birth to 1 to 5 live pups.

Where it goes

Whitetip reef sharks are strongly resident. In Hawaiʻi, photos from divers identified at least 178 sharks; the longest move seen was 26.4 km, and one shark was photographed 13 times over up to 7 years. At Cocos Island, Costa Rica, eight tagged sharks stayed in Chatham and Wafer bays almost all the time in 2014 and 2015.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

At Gili Trawangan it was the most common shark in 2019, making up 46% of shark and ray sightings. Surveys counted 2.38 per dive at Shark Point, 1.71 at Halik and 1.06 at Sunset Point, with young sharks at Halik. Around Amed and Tulamben in Bali it is seen occasionally.

Meet it respectfully

Do not crowd sharks resting in caves, enter their caves or block their way out. Never touch, chase or feed them, and keep speared or struggling fish away, as these can make the sharks a risk. Watch from a distance and let the shark choose how close it comes.

Fun fact

Tap the bulb to light it up.

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