Whitetip+Reef+Shark

At the Point Defiance Zoo there were 8 male Blacktip Reef Shark and 1 lady shark. However i found their closely related cousin (the whitetipped reef shark) to be even more intriguing than the 8 blacktipped males fighting over the 1 female. The Whitetip Reef Shark rests along the bottom of it's habitat (or tank in this case) and can be found in small groups. The Whitetip Reef Shark is most commonly found in the shallow and warm tropical waters near coral reefs in both the Pacific and Indian ocean's usually 330 meters below the water and it is not uncommon for snorklers and divers to encouter this beautiful species. They are not aggressive and sleep during the day because they are nocturanal, however if they are being harassed they have been known to bite but there is generally a good reason. The tips of this sharks Dorsal fin and Caudle fin have white tips on them and can be distinguished easily on their grey/brown body, along with their broad flat head however in the picture shown below there are none because the other sharks have nibbled them off. They usually grow to be 2.1 meters long or 140-160 centimeters long.



For more information check this link out: [|Whitetip Reef Shark; wikipedia.org] Written by: Aundrea