Oceanic Whitetip Shark
Oceanic whitetip shark (dive-hive / shutterstock.com)
The oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) has a stocky body and long rounded fins with white tips. Adult sharks can reach a length of more than 3 meters (9.8 feet). They live in the open sea far from the coasts and prefer tropical and warm-temperate waters. Oceanic whitetip sharks are often curious, sometimes aggressive, and are suspected to be responsible for many fatal attacks on survivors of downed aircrafts and sunken ships. Since these attacks are unconfirmed, they are not included in the International Shark Attack File.
This supplemental online resource accompanies the book Scuba Diving Hand Signals by Lars Behnke, available on
Amazon.