Gray reef shark

How do you identify a gray reef shark?

The gray reef shark, also known as the blacktail reef shark, has the classic look of a reef shark, with a broad, rounded snout and large eyes. Most individuals measure under 1.90 meters. Two details set it apart from its cousins: its first dorsal fin, white or tipped with white, while the other fins end in black, and above all the broad black edge along the rear of its tail fin. It has no ridge between the two dorsal fins.

How does the gray reef shark live?

It is one of the most common reef sharks in the Indo-Pacific, from Easter Island to South Africa, often met in shallow water near drop-offs. An agile, fast predator, it feeds mainly on bony fish and cephalopods, and its assertive behavior lets it dominate most other reef sharks despite its size. Several individuals take up residence at a specific spot on the reef, where they keep coming back; they are social rather than territorial animals. By day, they form groups of 5 to 20 near the reef edges, and they split up in the evening to hunt. The species is listed as Endangered.

Where and when can you see gray reef sharks?

In the Red Sea, the gray reef shark lives all year round on the offshore reefs of the south. At the Brothers, it is almost guaranteed on the north and south plateaus of Small Brother. You will also see it at the edge of the plateaus at Daedalus and on the pinnacles of St. John's, Habili Ali first among them. At Elphinstone, it only passes through. It shows up mostly in the morning, at the edge of the plateaus, in the current, between 20 and 40 meters.

In the Indian Ocean, in the Maldives, you will see it all year round. At Fish Head, there are 10 to 20 at the point, facing the current. In Indonesia, the season changes from one region to another. At Castle Rock, in Komodo, there are 5 to 12 per dive on average, holding still in the current in front of the pinnacle. Peak season runs from April to November, with up to 20 sharks from July to September. In Raja Ampat, peak season runs from October to April.

In the Pacific, in French Polynesia, Fakarava South Pass is home to 600 gray reef sharks on average, holding in the current, all year round. They are even more numerous during the grouper spawning, in June and July. At Tiputa, in Rangiroa, they gather by the hundreds in the canyons in June. To see the most, go to French Polynesia in June.

How should you behave around gray reef sharks?

It readily approaches divers settled at the edge of a plateau, and it is curious. It also has a famous threat display, when it feels cornered: arched back, lowered pectoral fins, stiff, jerky swimming. If you see it, back away slowly, facing the shark, without rushing and without blocking its way to open water. If you stay grouped and still, you will never see it.