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I have small teeth
White Tip Reef Shark - Triaenodon obesus is a species of requiem shark.
They have the ability to rest at the sea bottom and 'breath' by pumping in sea water through the gills, otherwise they will 'drown'.
During day time, this White Tip Sharks are likely to be found resting under boulders, overhangs and caves to rest/sleep although they can also be seen lying on the sandy/rubble bottoms in the open and also swimming around during day time. They are usually more active at night when they hunt for food, mostly reef fishes, octopus, lobsters and eels that are sleeping/hiding among coral reefs.
This White Tip Reef Sharks have several rows of sharp teeth, but small in size and they may loose their teeth when hunting/feeding. However, they have the ability to re-grow back their teeth!
I took this picture of the White Tip Reef Shark which was resting under some boulders. By slowly approaching it and regulating my exhalation, I was able to get very close, less than 1 meter, and by reaching out my hands, was able to take close-up of just its face/mouth.
The whitetip reef shark is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, and the only member of its genus. A small shark usually not exceeding 1.6 m in length, this species is easily recognizable by its slender body and short but broad head, as well as tubular skin flaps beside the nostrils, oval eyes with vertical pupils, and white-tipped dorsal and caudal fins.
comments (6)
I wanted to share my experience and debunk the general misconception of Sharks.
Most, yes most sharks are harmless to humans, even the bigger ones especially the biggest one, which is the Whale Shark; a gentle giant.
There are several species that have been known that might be aggressive and have 'attacked' humans, not necessarily scuba divers but the fatality numbers are less than 10 per year, and they are mostly surfers, swimmers or snorkelers at the surface and likely to be mistaken to other preys of the sharks i.e. seals or sea lions.
Many species of sharks are also very small in size, less than 1 meter, have very small mouth and tiny teeth.
In my 15 years of diving experience, I have had the opportunity to get up close encounters with Great White, Tiger and Bull Sharks; they are the top 3 most feared/aggressive sharks. Last year, I was in Bahamas, swimming with Tiger Sharks, up to 10 of them in a single dive, a few of them 5-6 meters length and I felt like I was swimming with Kittens! They were approaching divers straight on that we have to push them away gently. The Shark handler (he knows what he is doing) was even able to put the bigger Tiger Sharks in tonic immobility. The experience with the Tiger Sharks were truly amazing, knowing they are top predators but not 'crazy and wild' as most non-divers tends to believe. Still, they are wild animals and we have to show them due respect.
Posted 8 years ago
I was at minimal risk when taking this picture or during this encounter with the White Tip Reef Shark.
Through my previous experiences with this species, they have been known to swim away if you try to approach or gets too close, and for this particular situation, I had wanted to get as close as possible without it feeling threatened. Also, the space it was resting under the boulder, it was not a dead end at the other side, meaning this Shark is still able to swim to the back if it wanted to :D Posted 8 years ago