Grey Reef Sharks

Grey Reef Sharks are the most common type of Reef Sharks in the Indo-Pacific waters. They have been known to travel as far east as Easter Island and as far west as South Africa. They are most often seen in shallow areas. Grey Reef Sharks are extremely fast and efficient swimmers.
As most other species of Reef Sharks, the Grey Reef Sharks have a broad and round snout with large eyes. Their distinguishing features consist of a plain or white-tipped dorsal fin and all other fins are black-tipped. On average, Grey Reef Sharks grow to approximately 6.2 feet long. Compared to other species of sharks, the Grey Reef Shark is not very big, however, what they lack in girth, they make up with their aggressive behavior. Grey Reef Sharks intimidate other species of sharks with their threatening and domineering behavior. They usually have a lifespan of at least 25 years.

Interestingly, Grey Reef Sharks designate a portion of a reef as their home-base, returning back to it every now and then. However, while they have a home-base, they are not territorial--they let other sharks enter and feed in their domain. These are social sharks and generally form groups with as many as 20 other sharks. This is beneficial to the Grey Reef Sharks because due to their relatively small size, they are labeled as 'prey' for larger sharks.

Grey Reef Sharks have an extremely keen sense of smell which allow them to excel at capturing fish in the open seas. They are active throughout the entire day while picking up speed in the evenings.

Scientists estimate that their gestation period is around 9-14 months. These sharks have a low reproduction rate and as such are classified as near-threatened. Some scientists suspect that the growing destruction of reefs and the increased tendencies of Grey Reef Sharks getting caught in fishing nets and becoming victims of shark finning are the reasons why their numbers are dwindling. 

The Grey Reef Sharks were the FIRST species of shark to display a series of behavior indicating that they feel threatened. Before attacking, Grey Reef Sharks give a series of warning signals: they hunch their bodies, dropping their pectoral fin and perform an exaggerated side-to-side swimming motion. Grey Reef Sharks have been known to exhibit this behavior when they encounter divers.

It is obvious that when seeing a Grey Reef Shark exibit this behavior you need to get out of their way. Grey Reef Sharks are often curious about divers at first and may approach quite closely. They can become dangerous in the presence of food and tend to be more aggressive if encountered in open water rather than on or near the reef (it is plausible that this prominent aggressive tendency in open water is because that is the area where they hunt their prey).

Grey Reef Sharks WILL attack if pursued or cornered and divers should IMMEDIATELY RETREAT (SLOWLY AND ALWAYS FACING THE SHARK) if it begins to perform the threat-display behaviors.
Photography should NOT be attempted for the flash from the camera has been known to be an incentive to attack.
As of 2008, the International Shark Attack File has listed 7 unprovoked attacks and 6 provoked attacks...NONE OF WHICH WERE FATAL.

Thankfully, this is one of the few species who provide a series of warning behaviors and if you come across this species of shark and they exhibit threatened behavior PLEASE, SLOWLY AND CALMLY MOVE AWAY...YOU WILL NOT WIN A FIGHT BETWEEN YOU AND A SHARK. ALWAYS REMEMBER, YOU ARE INVADING THEIR TERRITORY AND HOME, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.