Galapagos shark

Photo: R Vasconcellos · CC BY

Galapagos sharks are the dominant large reef shark across the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and maintain smaller but healthy populations around Niihau due to its limited fishing pressure. They are curious and bold compared to most reef shark species, frequently approaching divers to investigate before circling away, and are known to aggregate at productive seamount and island sites. As apex predators, their presence is a strong ecological health indicator — their abundance at Niihau contrasts sharply with depleted shark populations on the heavily fished main island reefs.