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The oceanic whitetip shark is considered dangerous to humans. Numerous attacks by this species have been documented. This information is known about the predatory fish.
Whitetip shark: this is how dangerous it is
The oceanic whitetip shark is one of the shark species that can be dangerous to humans. There are several reports of attacks by this predatory fish. However, due to its habitat, which is outside of coastal areas, encounters with it are rather rare.
- Through reports from those affected or observers, it is known that there have been attacks on divers, swimmers and boat occupants in the past. Other shark attacks have been documented, but it was only assumed that these were white-tip oceanic sharks.
- Divers reported on the behavior of these sharks that they were first circled by the animals for a long time. The predatory fish approached their potential prey at regular intervals.
- The oceanic whitetip shark, also known as the oceanic whitefin shark, is credited with numerous attacks on shipwrecked people and the crews of crashed airplanes during the Second World War. The victims were easy prey for the sharks due to the accidents.
- Also, oceanic whitetip sharks are said to have killed many crew members of the “Nova Scotia”. This ship was sunk by a German submarine.
- The castaways of the “U.S.S. Indianapolis” in July 1945 are also believed to have been attacked by oceanic whitetip sharks.
The habitat of the oceanic whitetip shark
This predatory fish is at home in many waters. It lives in subtropical, tropical and temperate deep-sea regions. However, it is rarely found near the coast, which is why encounters tend not to occur here.
- The oceanic whitetip shark lives in waters with a temperature of around 18 °C to 28 °C. In the western Atlantic, it can be found from the American state of Maine to Argentina in South America. It also lives in Caribbean waters and in the Gulf of Mexico.
- In the western Pacific, the oceanic whitetip shark can be found from China to northern Australia and the Philippines. It can also be found in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
Here it is often spotted in the company of safari boats. - In the Eastern Pacific, the oceanic whitetip shark can be found from California to Peru and the Galapagos Islands. This shark species has also been spotted off Hawaii, Tahiti and the Tuamotu archipelago.
- On very rare occasions, this shark also strays into the Mediterranean. It finds access via the Strait of Gibraltar or the Suez Canal. In 1978, for example, a 2.50 meter long oceanic whitetip shark was caught in Venice’s canals and in 1998 there was a sighting off the coast of France.
- In the summer of 2004, one such specimen was caught in a fjord on the west coast of Sweden. It is unclear how it got there, as its natural habitat is far away.
