Oceanic Whitetip Shark

Oceanic Whitetip Shark Photo credit: Michel Labreque of Plongee Diving in Quebec.

The dorsal and pectoral fins of this shark are an unusual rounded shape, with the tips marked in white. Found around the world in deep ocean waters, this shark can be a danger to shipwreck or air crash victims, though a slow-moving swimmer, is often aggressive when feeding with other species. Whitetips eat a variety of prey, including tuna, mackerel and barracudas as well as stingrays, crustaceans and sea turtles. They will swim through schools of fish opening their mouth wide to scoop up any unlucky enough to be in their path.

Whitetips are considered a medium-sized shark, are typically brown or blue in color and are active during the day as well as the night. Females deliver anywhere from one to 15 pups after a year’s gestation.

Text source: Wikipedia under Creative Commons license.

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