To state it simply, sharks are interesting. So much so that entire weeks of television are devoted to them. There are a variety of sharks found around the world from the docile wobbegong to the great white shark.
The Largest Shark Sanctuary in the World
The atolls of Tuamotu, especially Fakarava, are world renowned for their shark diving and this means we have been seeing reef sharks on pretty much every dive. In fact, French Polynesia has the world’s largest shark sanctuary at 4.7 million square kilometers. The three most common species of shark we have been seeing are the white tip, black tip and grey reef shark. These are harmless sharks that can be up to 2 meters in length.
These sharks are particularly abundant in the channels running in and out of the atolls. In these passes, the strong currents make the waters particularly rich in nutrients, able to support a high abundance and diversity of reef organisms. The southern pass of Fakarava was one dive where the sharks were particularly abundant with over 100 sharks enjoying the currents.
(Photos by: 1 Dr. Brian Beck, 2-3 Serge Andrefouet)
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