The diet of the oceanic whitetip shark primarily consists of bony fishes such as tuna and mackerel, but also includes stingrays, sea turtles, sea birds, squid, crustaceans and mammalian carrion (3). The species is usually solitary, but individuals occasionally congregate in groups during ‘feeding frenzies’ in areas where food is plentiful (4), such as around whale carcasses (7). When many different species of shark are involved in a ‘feeding frenzy’, the oceanic whitetip shark usually dominates and may be aggressive towards the other species (3) (4). This shark is often accompanied by remoras (Echeneidae species), dolphinfish (Coryphaena species) and pilot fish (Naucrates doctor), and reportedly demonstrates an unusual association with the shortfin pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) in Hawaiian waters (2) (3). Although the exact reason for this shark swimming along with pods of pilot whales is unknown, it is thought that oceanic whitetip sharks are following them to sources of squid, which the pilot whales are extremely efficient at locating (3).
The oceanic whitetip shark mates during the early summer in the north-western Atlantic and the south-western Indian Ocean, and females give birth to between 1 and 15 live young (3) (6) after a gestation period of 10 to 12 months (1). As a viviparous redproducer, the oceanic whitetip shark gives birth to live young born that are nourished throughout the gestation period by a placental yolk-sac. Sexual maturity in both the male and female is attained at the age of six or seven (3).