White-tipped Reef Shark

Photo: Craig Fujii · CC BY-NC-ND

White-tipped reef sharks rest in groups beneath lava overhangs throughout the Punta Mangle reef system, completely ignoring the divers who circle above them in the calmer waters. At night they emerge to hunt cooperatively, coordinating movements to flush fish from crevices in a display of social hunting intelligence rarely observed outside of the Galapagos. Punta Mangle is one of the few sites in the archipelago where both resting aggregations by day and active hunting behavior at dusk are accessible on the same live-aboard evening program.