Oceanic white tips at night

[u/Mario507]

Because I saw the video of the night dive with the whale shark.

This was on a liveaboard where oceanic white tips cycled our boat. I took ma not too expensive camera, tied a rope to it and hung it down in the water.

I wouldn't have gone in that water at night for a million Euros..

[u/14ChaoticNeutral]

I’m more nervous about white tips than any of the big three

[u/TeaSalty9563 → u/14ChaoticNeutral]

Me too. They sort of remind me of polar bears.

[u/pottedPlant_64 → u/14ChaoticNeutral]

Why? What’s their reputation?

[u/Brandish_Alfa → u/pottedPlant_64]

The white tips are that kind of shark that eat everything and I mean EVERYTHING they can put in their mouths, and as the also live in open ocean they have some fame as vicious hunters of those who end in the ocean because of torpedoed ships or shipwrecks in general

[u/macmac360 → u/Brandish_Alfa]

[u/FishyFry84 → u/macmac360]

Anyway, we delivered the bomb

[u/Sicktoyou → u/FishyFry84]

No distress signal had been sent

[u/WolfWhovian → u/Sicktoyou]

There technically was one sent in real life but it was either not heard or ignored the same way their lateness getting back was

[u/Sicktoyou → u/WolfWhovian]

Ture, but I was talking about his speech and how he was saying, "turns out the mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent." He had a really odd way of saying it

[u/ishey → u/Brandish_Alfa]

Proven history

[u/N0tThatSerious → u/Brandish_Alfa]

And IIRC they evolved the ability to know what the sound of a shipwreck and struggling shipmates in the water sound like, but I cant find any confirmation on that

[u/bhaze → u/N0tThatSerious]

I don’t think ships have been around long enough for that to be a viable evolutionary theory; I think a more accurate interpretation of what you’re saying would be that they have enhanced sensory capabilities due to their migratory lifestyle in the open ocean where food is scarce and the ability to detect potential prey from great distances is what has contributed to them being successful is this niche.

[u/philium1 → u/pottedPlant_64]

They’re open ocean sharks. The open ocean is sort of like the desert of the sea - food items are few and far between. So oceanic white tips are perpetually hungry and not picky at all. They have also learned to tail ships because they know they can eat anything that falls overboard, including people.

[u/Appropriate-Pop-8044 → u/pottedPlant_64]

They’re open ocean predators and they always act like they WANT that meal and are hungry, just like polar bears.

[u/sleverest → u/pottedPlant_64]

Their reputation

[u/hodgsonstreet → u/sleverest]

This link says it’s not endangered, yet it’s listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List

[u/Smellzlikefish → u/hodgsonstreet]

"Endangered" means a few things depending on which of the three entities you refer to. There's the endangered species list, the IUCN, and CITES. The latter limits trade and doesn't denote endangered status, but people use it that way anyway as it protects the endangered species.

[u/manydoorsyes → u/sleverest]

Some false information here; the link says that this species is not endangered. Frankly I don't know what they're smoking. They're probably one of the most endangered sharks.

IUCN has them listed as critically endangered

[u/sleverest → u/manydoorsyes]

Definitely didn't think I'd need to fact-check The Smithsonian, but the reputation bit still stands.

[u/afrikaninparis → u/manydoorsyes]

Yeah, which makes it clear as a main ingredient of shark fin soup. Thanks China.

[u/SSgt93 → u/pottedPlant_64]

They never give up.

[u/Ok-Shop-617 → u/14ChaoticNeutral]

They can definitely be irratic. Bull sharks are still the sharks that make me the most nervous as a diver. Primarily due to their tenancy to operate in packs, and ability go from 0-100 is a split second.

[u/XxMonsterZeroXx → u/14ChaoticNeutral]

I remember being lucky to see one at Monterey Bay Aquarium many years ago. I was excited and tripping out over it and not the sharks that were much bigger. Which had everyone looking at me funny. Until I explained those other sharks (mostly Sand tigers) might bite you but that Whitetip will definitely eat you.

[u/jane_jesterling → u/XxMonsterZeroXx]

Seeing one in their natural habitat (the ocean) is what I would call lucky… not locked in a tiny glass cell in a chash grab aquarium. smh fck aquariums/ fck zoos

[u/YodaVader1977 → u/14ChaoticNeutral]

Yes. They scare the piss out of me.

[u/Myselfmeime]

Impressive footage. Is this around Brothers island in Egypt?

[u/Mario507 → u/Myselfmeime]

Yes it was

[u/Myselfmeime → u/Mario507]

Well I guessed so. Great place

[u/toddhenderson → u/Myselfmeime]

That's an impressive guess. Did you recognize that specific shark or the water???

[u/Myselfmeime → u/toddhenderson]

Liveaboard and whitetips scream Egypt and Elphinstone reef/Brothers islands to me. Also when I saw color of water while he was bringing the camera up I was sure it was Red Sea. It’s a guess based on that, I dove there 2 months ago so it’s also familiar.

[u/Cultural-Regret-69]

That’s a huge nope from me! 😆

[u/kirky1148]

Thought you were diving with them at first

[u/TestedNutsack]

Stranded Sailor: "oh God this can't get worse, I'm stuck"

The Humble Oceanic Whitetip:

[u/GravyPainter]

Damn, how far out were you? They should be a pretty rare sight no?

[u/Mario507 → u/GravyPainter]

About 60km of the Egyptian coast in the red sea at the brother islands. They are quite common there, they follow the diving boats to these islands.

I was driving there a few times and almost always saw some of them, mostly at the safety stops near the boats. At the end of 2018 these islands were closed for scuba diving because the sharks got too many and some incidents happened.

[u/GravyPainter → u/Mario507]

Oh makes sense they would follow boats. Ive seen so many fisherman throwing in scraps

[u/flaglerite]

Only a fool would stay in the water with an oceanic white tip

[u/Mario507 → u/flaglerite]

*at night

[u/flaglerite → u/Mario507]

Ever.

[u/PSFoxstar]

You’re a smart dude

[u/Mrmrmckay]

Creepy and beautiful 😃

[u/nickgardia]

They are a scary shark to me. Their numbers have been greatly depleted through bycatch in the last 70 years or so, which is a great shame although maybe a crumb of comfort to those who find themselves lost at sea in their range.

[u/kwilseahawk]

Awesome video!

[u/rambiolisauce]

Why do they call oceanic white tips "oceanic" white tips? Are there fresh water white tips? Serious question.

[u/Mario507 → u/rambiolisauce]

They are a pelagic species which means they live their life in the open ocean, which is also the reason why they are so dangerous to humans. While white tips reef sharks on the other hand live at reefs.

[u/RCTM → u/Mario507]

yep, the polar bears of the ocean. they get to feed so infrequently that they're always ravenous and opportunistic. the most dangerous animal is a hungry animal...

[u/hereforbobsanvageen → u/rambiolisauce]

It means they live mostly in the open ocean, where as black tip reef sharks live, on a reef.

[u/rambiolisauce → u/hereforbobsanvageen]

Cool, thanks!

[u/eatsleepdive → u/rambiolisauce]

The oceanic ones are aggressive, the reef ones generally aren't.

[u/Epic_Baldwin]

I didn't know they even let you night dive with them. Must be exciting.

[u/Mario507 → u/Epic_Baldwin]

They don't and nobody would

[u/Epic_Baldwin → u/Mario507]

Good to hear haha

[u/SunnySleepwell → u/Mario507]

Are night dives not allowed around Brothers Island?

[u/Mario507 → u/SunnySleepwell]

No they aren't

[u/DetailOutrageous8656 → u/Epic_Baldwin]

He stuck a camera in. He wasn’t diving.

[u/Bullgod6669]

That’s a bit suicidal. They will definitely eat you. Scariest shark by far!

[u/Mortal_Obligation]

/u/1marg

[u/a_pusy]

what about two million euros

[u/Mario507 → u/a_pusy]

Jump in and get out or do I have to swim a few minutes?

[u/Crescentfallen78]

Swimming with the REAL man eaters..

[u/rylan76]

Aren't those the species that were responsible for the most casualties in the water after the USS Indianapolis sank after being torpedoed in 1945?

[u/RCTM → u/rylan76]

i think you'll find a) the sharks were there first b) the sharks were doing what millions of years of programming had designed them to do: opportunistic scavenging.

sharks are the ocean's cleaners. humans will always be guests in their domain. pelagic species such as the oceanic whitetip happen to be extremely quick to eat things because of their scavenging nature. an OW to a Great White is like a Polar bear to a Grizzly.

those poor unfortunate souls lost from the Indianapolis may have been someone's son, husband, boyfriend, etc. but to the sharks they were easy pickings that were to be cleaned up.

it's more productive to blame the Japanese (and the US gov't too, for their mismanagement of the ship despite its secrecy) for the loss of those men, not the sharks in the water that saw all they could ever possibly see in such a situation: free and easy meals.

forgive me if i sound unsympathetic or clinical about such a horrible event, but you can't dangle a steak in front of a lion's mouth and not expect it to try to eat it...