Pelagic thresher shark

How do you identify a pelagic thresher shark?

The pelagic thresher is the smallest of the thresher sharks: 3 meters long on average and 69.5 kg, rarely over 3.30 meters, with a maximum of 3.50 meters for males and 3.80 meters for females. Its spindle-shaped body ends in a tail fin whose very thin upper lobe is almost as long as the rest of the animal. The back is blue, fading to gray and then white on the belly. The pectorals are long and straight, with rounded tips; the head is narrow, the snout short and conical, and the eyes very large, especially in juveniles. It differs from the bigeye thresher by its smaller eyes, and from the common thresher by its less pointed pectorals.

How does the pelagic thresher shark live?

It lives in the Indian and Pacific oceans, from the surface down to 500 meters, both offshore and near isolated reefs. Its tail is not for show: it uses it like a whip to strike and stun schools of small fish before swallowing them. The species is listed as Endangered, caught on longlines and in drift nets throughout its range.

Where and when can you see pelagic thresher sharks?

In the Red Sea, you meet the thresher at the Brothers and Daedalus, from September to November. It rises along the walls at dawn, often toward the cleaning stations. It goes back down as soon as the sun is high. It is the rarest of the big sharks on the southern liveaboards, and one of the most sought after.

In the Philippines, off Malapascua, it rises at dawn to the cleaning stations of Kimud Shoal. You will see it there more than nine mornings out of ten, all year round. That is where your chances are best.

How do you dive with pelagic thresher sharks?

It is a shy animal. To see it, take the first dive of the day, at dawn, settle against the wall, motionless, with no light or flash, and let the shark decide the distance. Any diver who moves toward it sends it back down into the blue.