Diving with Sharks
Kings of the Oceans
Unfortunately, the fear of sharks is common, mainly sparked by sensationalized stories, stereotyping, and films depicting them as dangerous killers. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, most of these animals are extremely docile and non-aggressive. Out of the 440 different species, only three are responsible for most human attacks. The most well-known species are the Great White shark, Tiger shark, Hammerhead shark, Bull shark, and, of course, the Whale shark. You only have to dive with sharks once to see how fascinating these animals really are.
Sharks have fantastic sensory organs. They can smell their prey from hundreds of meters away, have nearly a 360-degree field of vision, and can see very well even in the dark. Its skin is made up of scales that significantly reduc friction while swimming fast. Another fascinating fact is that they have multiple rows of teeth so that when they lose them, they grow right back again and again. As you can see, sharks are intriguing animals that we learn more about every day. Get to know these creatures on a personal level and decide for yourself if they are as big and scary as Hollywood makes them out to be. Go diving with sharks today!
Animals in this category
Diving with Whale Sharks
The whale shark is not only the largest of all sharks, but also the biggest fish in the world. It can grow up to 20 meters long, weigh 34 tons, and live for over 100 years. Its back can appear gray, brown, or blue in color and is covered with bright white stripes and spots arranged in transverse lines.
Diving with Great White Sharks
With females able to grow up to 7 meters long, the great white shark is the largest predatory fish on earth. It owes its name to its light, almost white, belly color, making it almost invisible to prey looking up from the seafloor. It’s body is similar in construction to a torpedo, making them very good, fast swimmers. In fact, they can reach speeds of up to 25 km/h and, like whales, have the ability to launch their entire body out of the water. Not many species prey on great whites, but if it is attacked, it can rolls its eyes inward for protection. Their eyes can absorb weak light, allowing them to see better in twilight than a cat.
Diving with Tiger Sharks
Tiger sharks are omnivores, having the widest food spectrum of all the sharks, and will eat virtually anything they can fit between their jaws, including fish, rays, seals, sea snakes, even seabirds and turtles. This makes them especially vulnerable to the effects of ocean trash as they will not hesitate to eat garbage like tires, plastic bags, and even car license plates. The special, extremely sharp shape of their teeth allow them to bite through the shells of turtles, crustaceans, and even bones. Their name comes from the dark tiger-like vertical striped bodies of the younger sharks, which fade and are usually absent in adults.
Diving with Mako Sharks
The mako shark has an incredibly special skin structure that allows it to swim up to 80 km/h, making them the fastest fish in the world. Due to its speed, they can cover enormous distances of up to 55 km per day and can actually jump up to 9 meters out of the water! These animals can be found throughout the world’s oceans in both tropical and temperate waters.
Diving with Blue Sharks
The blue shark is easily recognizable by its muzzle, longer than it is wide with a slight upward bend. It gets its name, however, from the bright blue color of its skin. This creature is also notable for its very large eyes and the nearly black tips of its fins. They live almost exclusively in the open sea and can dive up to 350 meters deep, therefore, it’s unlikely you will ever encounter these sleek swimmers near the coast. Getting to dive with blue sharks is an incredible experience as they are very curious and like to swim close to divers. Because of their curiosity it is important to treat them with respect, not attempting to touch or handle them in any way.
Diving with Great Hammerhead Sharks
The muzzle of the great hammerhead shark is probably the most recognizable of all species as its entire body shape clearly resembles a hammer. Their heads are very unique in that its width is about 25% of the entire length of the shark. The specialized shape of their snout helps them to hunt, as it is home to electro receptors. This amazing sensory organ allows them to find prey along the seafloor like stingrays, octopus, smaller sharks, and squid. The shape of their head also helps them hold their prey with their snout while eating. It is impressive to experience these extraordinary animals underwater and get to admire their specialized physique. The best chance to dive with hammerhead sharks is in tropical and subtropical coastal areas.
Diving with Scalloped Hammerheads
Like all hammerhead sharks, the scalloped hammerhead is one of the most distinctive looking sharks in the sea with its hammer shaped head and widely placed eyes. Unlike some species that prefer a solitary life, they can be found occasionally congregating in large schools, sometimes numbering in the hundreds. Although this schooling behavior can look intimidating, these majestic animals are not considered dangerous and are non-aggressive towards humans. In fact, witnessing this schooling behavior has become quite popular amongst divers who plan years in advance to travel out to remote dive destinations like the Galapagos and Cocos Islands which are highways for schooling scalloped hammerheads.
Diving with Oceanic Whitetip Sharks
The oceanic whitetip shark is well recognizable by its long fins, which are rounded off in contrast to the pointed tips of many other sharks. Its name comes from the white colored tips of its fins. With a length of about 3 meters, he is one of the larger sharks in the oceans. If you want to dive with oceanic whitetip sharks, then you’ll have to travel to tropical and subtropical regions, as they do not like cooler waters.
Diving with Thresher Sharks
The thresher shark has a very unusual body shape, making it easy to distinguish from other sharks. Its caudal fin is exceptionally large with a strong tail root. The upper part of the caudal fin can grow to be as long as the entire length of the shark’s body. They use this powerful fin as a weapon when hunting, using the elongated tail to hit smaller fish and stun them before eating. Experiencing this unique hunting method live is like nothing you’ve seen before while scuba diving.
Diving with Lemon Sharks
Contrary to the lemon shark’s menacing grimace with their protruding curved teeth, these animals are actually quite gentle and non-aggressive towards humans. As such, they are very popular amongst scuba divers for baited shark diving throughout the world. They can be found in shallow waters along the coastal areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, preferring to stay near coral reefs, mangroves, and bays. Because they are easy to find and survive well in captivity, they are actually the best known and most researched of all shark species.
Diving with Sand Tiger Sharks
Sand tiger sharks may be the most ferocious looking of all the sharks due to their rows of jagged, sharp teeth that protrude in all directions, even when their mouths are shut. However, not to be confused with their cousin the tiger shark, they are actually non-aggressive and extremely docile. Due to their calm demeanor, scuba diving with sand tiger sharks is a common and enjoyable experience. Nevertheless, as with any species, you should be careful when diving with sand tiger sharks and treat them with respect.
Diving with Bull Sharks
Bull sharks have a very unique ability to adapt perfectly to their environment, allowing them to live in both salt and fresh water. Being one of the few marine species that are able to survive in both fresh and saltwater allows them to frequent rivers and coastal areas alike, commonly putting them into close contact with humans. This frequent proximity to humans has unfortunately put them at the top of the list for shark attacks. Done right, however, scuba diving in clear ocean water with bull sharks can be a thrilling, one-in-a-lifetime experience. These creatures are usually around the 3 meters long, however, they grow very slowly, which means that they are not fully grown until about 10 years old.
Diving with Silvertip Sharks
This large, bulky shark is part of the well-known requiem family of sharks, as are its cousins the reef sharks. It is distinguished by silver white marks on its fins and can grow up to 10 feet long. Silvertips are considered a somewhat aggressive species as it must compete aggressively with other sharks for food. Their diet consists of coral reef dwelling bony fish, smaller sharks, and even eagle rays and they are known for their unique behavior of running their prey up before eating them.
Diving with Silky Sharks
The silky shark gets its name from the smooth texture of its skin and is a moderately large, slender shark within the popular requiem family of shark species. They can reach up to 8 feet in length and over 700 pounds with females growing larger than males. They are the most common shark to cruise the pelagic zone (the open ocean) and are distributed throughout the world’s warm, tropical waters. They are a truly elegant looking animal and a beautiful site to see.
Diving with Whitetip Reef Sharks
Not to be confused with its cousin, the oceanic whitetip shark, the whitetip reef shark prefers to spend most of its time resting in small caves and caverns amongst the reef. Unlike most requiem species, he does not need to swim continuously to breathe. They are similar to the nurse shark in that they can pump water over their gills to keep them freshly oxygenated, allowing whitetips the ability to lie on the ocean’s bottom or stay still, suspended in the water inside a small cave. If you are looking for them while scuba diving your best bet in finding them is to look into all of the caverns and overhangs.
Diving with Blacktip Reef Sharks
Blacktip reef sharks are one of the most commonly sighted sharks cruising around reefs, as they are extremely abundant in this habitat. They can be found in shallow, inshore waters throughout the tropical regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and are easily identified by the dark black tips of their dorsal and caudal fins. Blacktips are not very migratory and prefer a smaller home range where they prey on crustaceans, smaller bony fish, and even sea snakes.
Diving with Nurse Sharks
Leading a humble, sedentary lifestyle, the nurse shark may not be the most thrilling shark to dive with in the sea, but it is by far one of the most common. This dusty brown, robust animal is a very popular sighting amongst the coral reefs of the Caribbean and is mostly distributed in the eastern Pacific Ocean, along the coast of the Americas, the eastern Atlantic Ocean, and the western Atlantic Ocean along the coast of Africa.
Diving with Wobbegongs
One of the rarest sharks to encounter, the wobbegong is found only in a small number of dive destinations around the world. Distributed in the shallow temperate and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean, this unique looking shark is most commonly found around Australia and Indonesia. Wobbegong is the common name actually given to 12 different species of this shark, also known as “carpet sharks” because of the shaggy looking beards that grow around their mouths and the fact that they spend most of their lives laying still on the ocean’s floor.
Diving with Zebra Sharks
Zebra sharks are a nocturnal shark species belonging to the family of “carpet sharks” that prefer to lay sedentary along the ocean floor during daylight hours. This shark has a very distinctive body shape and coloration, trading the vertical stripes it has as a juvenile, giving its name, for dark spots set against pale skin as an adult. These graceful animals boast five distinct ridges longways down their bodies, ending in a uniquely long caudal fin. It is one of the more beautiful species and a favorite sighting amongst scuba divers.
Diving with Grey Reef Sharks
The grey reef shark is one of the most common reef sharks in the Indo-Pacific and is frequently seen cruising shallow coral reefs, especially near steep drop-offs. These animals may have a slightly white-tipped first dorsal fin, however, they are clearly distinguishable from other shark species because they lack the distinct black or white markings on the tips of their fins and are a more uniform grey color. These agile predators are fast swimmers and feed mostly on bony fish and cephalopods that they hunt along the reef.
Diving with Oceanic Blacktip Sharks
Not to be confused with the blacktip reef shark, the oceanic blacktip shark has a more stout, robust body, grows larger than its reef shark cousin, and prefers living in shallower open water areas rather than on a coral reef. Also, they do not have distinct black spots on their fin tips like the reef sharks but, instead, have more of a uniform black line along the edges of their fins. These animals are fast, agile, and energetic, especially when it comes to hunting. They have been known to make spinning leaps out of the water while attacking schools of fish.
Diving with Angel Sharks
More reminiscent of rays than of the typical torpedo shaped shark, the angel sharks are a group of 23 different bottom dwelling, flattened shark species that live in temperate to tropical waters. All of them are great at camouflage and can be difficult to spot. Consider yourself lucky if you ever get to scuba dive with one of them as many are critically endangered. The Pacific angel shark is commonly sighted amongst the kelp forests of Southern California, whereas another species congregates in large numbers off of the Canary Islands, making this one of the best region in the world to encounter them.
Diving with Sawsharks
Sawsharks are very unique looking sharks having a long saw-like snout edged with sharp teeth, making the 8 species easy to identify. These animals are found in many areas of the world, but their main distribution is in the warmer waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. With a yellow-brown body covered in modest dark spots and blotches, they camouflage themselves easily along the bottom of the sandy ocean floor where they use the barbells on their snout to detect prey in the mud or sand. They then cripple their prey by side swiping them with their saw.
Dive Sites with this Animal
★★★★★ Fenfushi Giri
If you want to see anemones you have to come to this place,, there is a field with hundreds of anemones where we also can always find turtles. The Giri has approx. a diameter of 120m and is easy to dive around. Some nice small overhangs
★★★★★ Aquarium / Lhohifushi Corner
This dive site is located right next to the island. The long reef ends into a corner of the canal. Here you can see several highlights. A very nice dive site for beginners as well as experienced divers.
★★★★★ HP Reef / Rainbow Reef
One of the most colorful dive sites in North Male Atoll. On the south side of Girifushi island with abundant fish life and very nice soft corals, there are numerous blue soft corals and a swim through. The current can be strong!
★★★★☆ Okobe Thila
This amazing reef are 3 blocks. The biggest begins in the south between 80-100m long and it's full of corals, it would be nice we can start here. In the east we have another wonderful block a bit similar to east block Maya Thila covert full with corals. In the north is the smallest block. AOW or higher
★★★★★ Back Kani
Easy but always nice dive. The top of the reef drops down from 7m to 30/35m and then runs into the sand. Depending on the current, you simply dive the right or left shoulder. With a little luck, this dive site offers everything that makes diving exciting!
★★★★☆ Himmafushi Corner
Himmafushi Corner is a drift dive, best suited for divers with a lot of experience as this dive is deep and can have strong currents. The corner slopes from 5 to 30m and after that comes to a small drop off to 45/50m. This dive should only be conducted during the incoming current.