Whitetip Reef Shark

Photo: Craig Fujii · CC BY-NC-ND

Whitetip reef sharks are the most consistently encountered shark at the British Loyalty wreck, with 5 to 15 individuals resting on the sandy bottom around the hull and within the superstructure openings during daylight hours. They are the only requiem shark capable of resting motionless on the seafloor — pumping water over their gills without swimming — making the wreck environment ideal as a daytime resting site. At dusk they transition to active hunting, and night dives at the British Loyalty offer some of the most dramatic shark hunting behaviour observable on any Maldivian wreck.