Whitetip Reef Shark

Photo: Esa R. Mikkonen · CC BY-NC-ND

Whitetip reef sharks are the defining species of Palikir Pass, resting in groups of 5 to 15 on sandy ledges within the channel walls during slack water and becoming dramatically more active as the current builds on the incoming tide. Their hunting behaviour in the pass is unusually visible: they probe crevices and undercuts with their blunt snouts in coordinated searches, occasionally erupting into bursts of speed when prey is flushed from cover by the current. Palikir Pass is one of the few sites in Pohnpei where this cooperative reef-hunting behaviour can be observed reliably from a stationary position on the wall.