Pelagic thresher shark

Photo: Jenvit Seriburi · © all rights reserved

The pelagic thresher is occasionally encountered at Shark Fin Rock during strong current events, using its extraordinarily elongated tail — up to half its total body length — to stun schooling prey in the water column above the pinnacle. It is a predominantly open-water species that visits seamounts and prominent topographic features along migratory routes, and its sightings at Lanai pinnacle sites are sporadic but well-documented in operator logs. Threshers are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, heavily impacted by longline bycatch across the Pacific, making any reef encounter a rare privilege.