The Carribean Reef Shark

  The Carribean reef shark is found, unsurprisingly, throughout the Carribean and also along the Western coastlines of Mexico and Brazil, where the can find a plentiful supply of rays and fish to feed on. A Carribean reef shark can grow up to three metres long and are stocky, powerful fish, alike to many other reef sharks.

  These sharks are territorial, although not so much as their fellow reef dwellers, the silvertip sharks. However, they will constantly patrol an area of a reef, defying another shark or large sea creature to come too close to it.

  Although they are generally indifferent to the divers and snorkelers who visit their reef homes, these sharks have a tendency to be easily aggravated. There are a series of telltale signs that a carribean reef shark is feeling threatened by a diver.

  Firstly, it will begin to arch its back. It will repeatedly do this for several seconds before the diver either goes away or stays, making it progress to the second stage of aggressive behaviour.

  If the diver does not retreat to a further distance, the shark will begin to thrash its tail excessively. As to when you judge excessive thrashing, it will invariably occur after the arching of the back.

  Next, the shark will open its mouth to show its teeth. Evidently, this is a sign that tells any diver to leave the area. This action is typical of most large sharks when they feel threatened or anxious.

  At this point, it is imperative that, as a diver, you have moved away, as the next step is for the shark to swim rapidly in the aggressor's direction. Some will pull away at the last minute and repeat this, although others may make contact with the diver - usually their tail will make the contact - and there have been several instances of such contact resulting in concussion.

  The majority of Carribean reef shark encounters occur in coastal waters, due to the fact that only very few venture into the open ocean. As relatively small sharks, such an action could be suicidal should they encounter a great white, tiger or bull shark - all of which can be found in such areas.

  As is typical with reef dwelling sharks, Carribean reef sharks hunt at night, sometimes in small groups. They feed mainly on rays, of which there are many species that live on reefs, and large fish. Groupers are notably one of the favourite foods of this species, although the saying "the hunters are the hunted" is applicable in such a case, as many groupers grow to such awe-inspiring size that they are able to swallow a shark whole.

A carribean reef shark patrolling its territory on a reef.

The range of the Carribean reef shark.