Animal profile

Where to see silvertip sharks

Carcharhinus albimarginatus

The silvertip is what a grey reef shark would be with another metre of length and considerably more confidence. Every fin is trimmed with a conspicuous bright white margin, which is where the name comes from and what makes it identifiable at range in poor light. It lives on the outer edges of things — reef drop-offs, channel mouths, offshore banks and seamounts, generally in clearer, more current-swept water than reef sharks prefer, and often a little deeper. Behaviourally it is the one to know about: silvertips are socially dominant over grey reef sharks and will displace them, and they approach divers directly and repeatedly rather than keeping their distance, which makes for spectacular encounters and a dive that rewards paying attention. It is uncommon everywhere, listed as Vulnerable, and thinly enough spread that most divers meet one by luck at a channel rather than by planning.

Best places to see silvertip sharks

How to identify a silvertip shark

• The white margins are the whole identification: broad, brilliant white edges and tips on the dorsal, pectoral and tail fins, obvious even in flat light and at a distance.
• It is bulkier and longer than the grey reef sharks it swims among, with a broader, more rounded snout and no dark trailing edge on the tail — the grey reef’s tail is edged in black, which is the inverse marking.
• Do not confuse it with the whitetip reef shark, which is small, slender, bottom-hugging and carries white only on the dorsal and tail tips. If a large shark in open water is edged in white on every fin, it is this one.

Meeting them responsibly

• Hold your ground and stay on the reef or wall rather than drifting into open blue. Silvertips close in confidently and repeatedly, and a diver who backs away in mid-water simply invites more of the same behaviour from behind.
• Keep dangling gear clipped and your hands close. This is a bold, inquisitive shark in current, and loose octopuses and camera lanyards get investigated.
• Photograph and report it. It is listed as Vulnerable and uncommon at almost every site it occurs, so a dated photograph from a channel dive is worth passing to a local operator or ID catalogue.

Frequently asked questions

Where can you dive with silvertip sharks?

Beqa Lagoon in Fiji is the most reliable place in the world, where individuals are known by name on the baited dives. In the Maldives they turn up in the outer channels — Fotteyo Kandu is a well-known one — and in the remote southern atolls such as Huvadhoo, usually in current alongside grey reef and silky sharks.

How is it different from a grey reef shark?

Size, markings and attitude. The silvertip is a metre longer, edged in bright white on every fin where the grey reef has a black-edged tail, and it is socially dominant — silvertips displace grey reefs at a site. It also approaches divers far more directly.

Is it dangerous?

It is bold and it will come close, which unsettles divers used to reef sharks keeping their distance, but recorded incidents are very rare. Treat it like any large requiem shark in current: face it, stay near the reef, and do not flail or flee.