Oceanic whitetip shark
Carcharhinus longimanus
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Size, compared with you
You: 1.7 m. Oceanic whitetip shark: 4 m.
Bigger than a car. Grows up to about 4 m.
The oceanic whitetip is a big shark with white tips on its fins that lives far out in the open sea. It hunts squid and fish, and it is now Critically Endangered, which means it is at very high risk of dying out in the wild.
The weird bit
Oceanic whitetips are often seen with pilot fish swimming around them, and they are known to follow pilot whales, because both of them hunt squid.
Quick facts
- Where it lives
- Open ocean0 to 1,082 m down
- What it eats
- Squid and bony fish such as tuna, mahi-mahi and mackerel
- How worried are we?
- In serious danger (Critically Endangered)Assessed in 2018 by the IUCN Red List.