Shark Attack - Feeding frenzy as black tip reef sharks beach themselves hunting!

Photography by Valji Varia
www.natural-variation.com

Blacktip reef sharks are some of the most common shark species in the Maldives archipelago. They are medium-sized creatures that extend to about 1.6 metres and they can be identified from distinct black tips on most of their fins. These sharks live in shallow waters and feed on small fish and marine animals among the reefs. These juvenile blacktips can swim in very shallow waters and have been spotted coming all the way up to beaches. However, blacktips are also very shy species of sharks and will often bolt away when you get close to them.

Its diet is composed primarily of small fishes, including mullet, groupers, grunters, jacks, mojarras, wrasses, surgeonfish, and smelt-whitings. Groups of blacktip reef sharks in the Indian Ocean can be observed, as in this footage, herding schools of mullet against the shore for easier feeding.

The blacktip reef shark has extremely small home ranges and exhibits strong site fidelity, remaining within the same local area for up to several years at a time. Timid and skittish, the blacktip reef shark is difficult to approach and seldom poses a danger to humans unless roused by food. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the blacktip reef shark as Vulnerable. Although the species as a whole remains widespread and relatively common, overfishing of this slow-reproducing shark has led to its decline at a number of locales.

Видео Shark Attack - Feeding frenzy as black tip reef sharks beach themselves hunting! канала Valji Varia