Gato island is one of the best dive sites in the country with its incredible tunnel that runs thorough the island from one side to the other. And because of that tunnel the island has a resident of very grateful and chunky white tip sharks. The sharks love all the crack, holes and crevices provided by the incredible topography and it offers them great protection as they rest on the bottom pumping water through their gills and eyeballing curious divers.
So what do we need to know about the White Tipped Reef shark?
The White Tipped Reef sharks is one of the most common shark species in the area around the Indo Pacific coral reefs and are quite often seen by lucky divers. This is mainly because they stay at a shallow depth of 8-40 meters in coral or rocky reefs. However we have noticed at Monad Shoal that many White Tips live at 50m or below perhaps as a response to fishing in the past.
The White Tip is an easy shark to recognize. It has a slender body and short broad head and white tipped dorsal and pectoral fins. You can easily spot it in the distance due to its curious, irregular, and waving swimming style.
The white tipped reef sharks can grow to a maximum of 2 meters, with females growing a bit bigger then males. They feed on small boned fish such as eels as well as octopus and crabs. They push their heads into crevices at night and thrash their tails trying to extract their unwilling supper.
Normally sharks need to swim to pump water through their gills but the white tip reef shark can pump water overs its gills and lie still on the bottom. During the day the white tipped reef sharks spend a lot of time resting in safe spots. During the night they’ll be more active and hunting. It’s a very social shark and they are usually found lying on top of each other and share areas with other white tipped reef sharks.
The white tipped reef sharks is one of the few sharks that has been recorded mating. The male white tip reef sharks will be sexually mature when its about one meter of length. Receptive female are followed by prospective males, who attempt to grasp the females pectoral fin and then moves the two of them into position for mating. After 10-13 months the female will give birth to between one and six pups.
So see a White Tip Reef shark for yourself just contact us on info@evolution.com.ph
