Divers in the Maldives were stunned when an oceanic whitetip shark tore past them and leapt out of the water.
Although several shark species – including white, basking and thresher sharks – are known to breach like this, it’s very rarely seen in oceanic whitetips because these sharks spend most of their lives in the open ocean.
The divers immediately knew they’d witnessed something special.
“I saw the [shark] swimming towards the surface super-fast. When it happened, everyone screamed out of excitement – and then it happened again,” says Ahmed Inah from Nature Friends of Maldives and Pelagic Divers Fuvahmulah. “I knew it was rare.”
“All of a sudden it started spinning around and breached out of the water,” adds colleague Ali Ansaaru Ahmed. “I never knew that oceanic white tips breach until I saw it with my own eyes.”
They have published the sighting in Pacific Conservation Biology along with collaborators from MARECO and Qatar University.
- Meet the shark that can walk in and out of water
- Why do whales breach? 6 theories behind their spectacular aerial shows
“A single [oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus)] rapidly ascended almost vertically while rotating, breached approximately 2m above the surface, then re-entered and accelerated underwater,” write the authors in the paper.
In the exciting new video, taken from below the waterline, the female whitetip shoots out of the water, spinning as she goes.
- Tuna carcass placed at bottom of ocean. All was quiet, before this happened
- Mega-shark remains found on beach in Australia. Experts say it was absolutely massive
Why did the oceanic whitetip shark breach?
Bursting out of the water like this takes incredible amounts of energy so the reason must be important but scientists still aren't entirely sure exactly why they do it.
One reason sharks might breach is for hunting but that didn’t seem to be the case here. “No prey aggregations were observed at the surface, making foraging-related explanations less likely,” write the study authors.
Communication might be another option – the loud splash when the animal smacks against the water again can be heard by other sharks – but, in this instance, a nearby shark didn't seem to respond in any way.
The divers noticed something that might be causing the whitetip distress, writing “a hook and line were observed on her left jaw, which may have caused stress or altered behaviour.”
Perhaps the most likely reason was that she was trying to shake off an irritating hitchhiker. “One pilot fish (Naucrates ductor) was visibly associated with the shark before the breach but detached during the ascent and did not appear to reassociate immediately following re-entry,” write the authors.
Although fascinating, this rare sighting hasn’t yet fully solved the mystery. The researchers hope that data from tagged sharks caught breaching might shed more light into why these predators put so much energy into soaring out of the water like this.
Find out more about the study.
Image and video credit: Luca Asshauer, Nature Friends of Maldives, Pelagic Divers Fuvahmulah
More wildlife stories from around the world
- 16ft great white shark found with perfectly circular hole in its head – scientists know exactly what caused it
- NASA officials sent over 2,000 baby jellyfish into space. Tens of thousands more came back to Earth
- Scientists tied plastic bottles to fishing nets – and couldn't believe what happened next…
- Arctic bobtail squid seen alive in natural habitat for first time ever
