White tips but not Whitetip = Silvertip?

[rickydazla]

We get lots of white and black tip reef sharks surrounding the island I work at and I have seen plenty of varying sizes. People have reported seeing all sorts of other sharks (bull, tiger, mako(!)) but I strongly suspect that these are all cases of mistaken identity as having dived over 300 times around the island I have never seen anything other than a whitetip (blacktips only when snorkelling). The occasional Grey Reef may come in which may account for the 'bull shark' sightings and I guess if the boys are spearfishing then some others may swim in but... Anyway, my point is that I would hate to say that I had seen something else if I hadn't, ya get me?

Right, well, yesterday I was at 5m and a large shark swam directly below us. It could easily have been a (very) large whitetip but I purposefully checked for tips and it definitely had white dorsal AND pectoral tips. However, having checked my id book I see no mention of white pectoral tips on whitetip sharks - was it a silvertip/something else?

Whew, sorry for all that. Any help appreciated!

 

[isurus]

How large a shark are we talking about? Oceanic whitetip is another possibility.

 

[rickydazla]

Definitely not.

 

[AlaskaDiver]

It certainly sounds like a juvenile silvertip. The white tips on the pectorals are a good indicator of a silvertip. The adults are usually out in open water but the juveniles come into shallow lagoons. Habitat is very similar to that iof a gray reef shark. Get a photo if you can.

 

[rickydazla]

I'd love to just see it again! It was a one-off though I fear and it was only really when I was thinking about it afterwards that I realised that my 'dismissal' of it as a big whitetip may have been mistaken.

 

[gangrel441]

White tips on dorsal, pectoral, and both tail lobes is silvertip. White tips on dorsal and top lobe of tail is whitetip reef. White tips on dorsal and pectorals, not on tail, with elongated pectoral fins and very rounded ends on dorsal and pectorals is oceanic whitetip.

Sounds to me like you found yourself a silvertip. Nice find!

:wave-smil

 

[Hank49]

Sounds like a silver tip. I've seen them in Malaysia off of Redang. Same body as a gray reef but with white tips.

 

[Bowmouth]

Right, well, yesterday I was at 5m and a large shark swam directly below us. It could easily have been a (very) large whitetip but I purposefully checked for tips and it definitely had white dorsal AND pectoral tips. However, having checked my id book I see no mention of white pectoral tips on whitetip sharks - was it a silvertip/something else?!

White tip reef sharks have a torpedo shaped body and a bit "sluggish" swimming style. They're bottom dwelling/feeding sharks and often rest in the day on the sand and feed at night. They can pump water over their gills and breath while laying on the bottom similar like nurse sharks do.

Silvertip sharks are sharks that "glide" through the water, have a more profound shark-like body (like "Bruce" from Nemo!),are often found in deeper water (reef edge/pinnacles) and most easily identified by white spots on the tips of ALL their fins. They MUST swim or hover in a current to be able to breathe and cannot lay themselves to rest on the bottom.

They cannot be mistaken from one another and are completely different sharks.

 

[rickydazla]

They cannot be mistaken from one another and are completely different sharks.

The shark I saw, which I now know without any uncertainty was a silvertip (as I 100% made note of the tips of ALL of its fins), was not enourmous and I have certainly seen whitetips that would match it for size. It was in no more than 30 feet of water in an area that for about 10 miles is no deeper than 150 feet. Silvertip territory?

 

[gangrel441]

Juvinile, perhaps. I believe they hatch in the shallows and move deep as they mature.