History: Whitetip reef sharks rarely attack humans, unlike their cousins the oceanic whitetip. These sharks are quite small, rarely growing longer than five feet in length, and spend most of their time in caves or crevices on Indo-Pacific reefs. They wait until night to feed, by patrolling the reef for its preferred food of fish, octopi and crustaceans. The whitetip reef shark’s slim body allows it to follow its prey into areas that would be off-limits to most other predators. Due to the reduction of their reef habitat and overfishing, this species is listed as “Near Threatened”.