Shark encounters and interactions
Sharks are the cherry on the cake. They may not be the ideal aquarium pets, but they are such interesting animals that you can’t help being fascinated every time you come across these top predators of the seas. And we really did encounter a lot of sharks! We were able to spot a total of seven different shark species – sometimes, sadly, only very briefly.
Seen shark species:
Great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran)
Sicklefin lemon shark (Negaprion acutidens)
Blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus)
Grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos)
Tawny nurse shark (Nebrius ferrugineus)
Silvertip shark (Carcharhinus albimarginatus)
Whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus)
We didn’t sight any tiger sharks but sharks were present on EVERY dive or snorkelling trip. As with the JBL shark workshop in the Bahamas, the sharks were always peaceful, often disinterested, but could sometimes be curious.
At one point, expedition leader Heiko snorkelled from the anchored catamaran to the shore about 300 metres away. At first he only used his flippers to propel him. Then, after about 100 m, because of the slight current, he used his arms to help him crawl. He remembered a statement by shark researcher Dr Erich Ritter that you should look around from time to time to see if sharks are following you. Heiko only had blue water around him with a depth of around 60 metres.
As he looked around, six grey sharks were swimming just 50 cm behind him! He assumed a vertical position (which is strange for sharks) and turned round to face the sharks (visual contact). The sharks were irritated, circled Heiko and swam away bored as he swam on without crawling. 50 m further on, another attempt at crawling. The sharks came again! The sounds of the crawl seemed to arouse the sharks’ curiosity!
Our most impressive dives took place at Tetamanu/south passage from the Fakarava Atoll. At a depth of just 20 m, the diving team encountered a wall of grey sharks! The sharks were relatively stationary in the current and not too bothered about the approaching divers. The diving group (five people + guide) held on to some dead coral in front of the group of sharks in the strong current to enjoy the sight for a while and to take photos and videos. On closer inspection, they realised that they were all females.
At some point, their strength waned and the current pulled the divers further into the group of sharks. The sharks swam apart a little, relaxed, let the foreign bodies past and then readopted their formation.
The team discovered fishing hooks on the mouths of some of the sharks. Unfortunately, they did not allow them to get close enough to remove the hooks. There have been encounters where sharks have actively sought help to have hooks removed from their mouths!
The teams were only able to observe tawny nurse sharks in shallow waters, between 1 and 5 m deep. As always, they were extremely peaceful, but very shy in some places.
Lemon sharks were rare, and only a few of the snorkelling team saw a lemon shark patrolling along the reef just once.
Immediately after anchoring at an anchor buoy in water over 100 m deep, Heiko jumped into the water. He had a Bresser action cam with him ("You never go into the water without a camera!") and discovered a great hammerhead shark at a depth of around eight metres below him.
The shark heard the sound of him jumping in and immediately turned curiously in the snorkeller’s direction. Once he realised it was just an inedible snorkeller the shark turned around again. And unfortunately all the action cam footage shows is the hammerhead shark swimming away.
The whitetip reef sharks were regularly seen on the outer reef and in the passages. They were travelling individually and in small groups or sleeping under overhangs. There are said to be large numbers of whitetip reef sharks at Apatiki. After an 11 hour drive the currents were unsuitable (running from the lagoon to the ocean) and our team was sadly unable to dive.
