Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob_K
Took this shot this afternoon, snorkelling off the coast of Niue Island in the Pacific. "Ox" underwater digital camera (automatic). It's a White-tipped Reef Shark, with Remora swimming underneath. Not exactly your Grey Nurse or anything, but I felt pretty brave anyway!   |
Hi Rob,
Oooh, I think you were a bit braver than you thought at the time. I think that might be a silver-tip whaler shark, C. Albimarginatus, not the less aggressive white-tip reef shark, T. obesus. Despite its zoological name, the reef shark is a long slim shark with a longer head forward of the gill slits.
The whaler has a beefier barrel-shaped body, with a shorter wider head. Admittedly it is not always easy to tell from a photo, but how much more exciting if you had known you were hanging out with a whaler.
BTW the grey nurse is a very docile species, not at all dangerous to swimmers. Most of the attacks in Victoria and NSW here in Oz have been made by whaler sharks.
Cheers