Sharks rarely seen together caught on camera sharing meal

By Stephen Beech

Sharks rarely seen together have been caught on camera sharing a meal too good to miss.

Tiger sharks and Oceanic whitetips fed "peacefully" at the same time on a carcass close to Hawaii’s Big Island.

Scientists say the "incredibly rare" observations could help them understand shark ecology better.

They explained that many sharks, particularly those that live in the open sea, are hunters rather than scavengers.

But a "small portion" of their diet comes from scavenging, a behaviour they may engage in when the opportunity arises.

Researchers described in the journal Frontiers in Fish Science a highly unusual gathering of sharks coming together off Hawaii to feed on a carcass that had decayed to mostly flesh and blubber.

First author Dr. Molly Scott, a marine researcher at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, said: “To our knowledge, this is the first study to document a feeding aggregation of tiger sharks and oceanic whitetip sharks scavenging concurrently, and peacefully, on a carcass.

“These species are rarely seen together in the wild because of the vastly different habitats they occupy.”

She explained that oceanic whitetips, a threatened species growing to an average of two metres (6.5ft) in length, are solitary sharks, highly migratory, and spend most of their time roaming the oceans, making them difficult to study.

But during spring and summer, they gather at Hawaii’s Big Island.

Tiger sharks are slightly bigger, more coastal species growing three to four metres on average, and dwell there year-round.

Dr. Scott said, “It is incredibly rare for these two species to overlap in space and time.”

But in April 2024, a tourist boat sighted a heavily decayed carcass about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) off the west coast of the Big Island.

Once in the water, the tourist operators could watch the feeding event for over eight hours.

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During that time, at least nine oceanic whitetip sharks and five tiger sharks were spotted.

Dr. Scott said, “Even though up to 12 individual sharks were feeding intermittently from a very small, highly degraded carcass, we did not observe any agonistic inter- or intra-species aggression.

“This was surprising to me; I would assume some agonistic behaviours would exist when there are that many sharks attempting to feed around such a small carcass.

"But it seems all individuals knew their place in the social hierarchy.”

She said the tiger sharks, most likely due to their larger size, were the dominant species.

All the tiger sharks, except one smaller female, and the two largest oceanic whitetips were observed most frequently feeding directly on the carcass.

The smaller sharks stayed under the surface and fed on scraps drifting away.

Dr. Scott says it is possible that they were attracted to the scene because of the scraps and regurgitations left behind by the larger tiger sharks.

But she believes there might have been other reasons for some sharks getting first servings.

Dr. Scott said: “Some individuals, like the female tiger shark, may have been shier or less bold, likely again due to her size.

"Also, with the other sharks having established the feeding hierarchy before the female tiger shark arrived, maybe she didn’t feel too welcome to get in on the action."

The study was conducted over a relatively short time span as the carcass could not be located again the next day.

But the researchers say that, considering the size of the carcass, lots of sharks were present, and the observations could provide new insights into relationships and social interactions between sharks that don’t normally inhabit the same waters.

Dr. Scott said: “There were between two and three humans in the water at all time,s filming more than 12 sharks feeding.

"None of the photographers reported any scary, aggressive, or harmful interactions with the sharks.”

She added, “I hope this provides a new perspective that sharks are not the human-eating predators they are made out to be.”