blackbearmagic:gentlesharks:explosiveflygon:gentlesharks:Baby Blacktip Reef shark!One day that tiny
blackbearmagic:gentlesharks:explosiveflygon:gentlesharks:Baby Blacktip Reef shark!One day that tiny baby will be a big shark able to rip people to shredsmost blacktip reef sharks are no more than 5.5ft long when mature. not only that, blacktip reef sharks are timid and shy, with no fatal human attacks documented. don’t comment stuff like this on my posts, save it for another post and stay off mine. thanksWe have BTR sharks at my aquarium, in a huge reef exhibit. Normally they’re cruising around all areas of the exhibit, sometimes singly, sometimes in small groups. (They are social hunters, after all.) They’re one of my favorite species to watch because they Do Stuff with greater frequency than the other fish. Like, if you watch them for a while, you can actually see the “friendships” that exist between the individuals–some sharks will change course to swim beside a shark they “like”, or make a sharp turn to get away from a shark they “dislike.” Look closely at the amount of black on their fins–that’s a good way to tell them apart–and you’ll start to recognize who’s buddies with whom. We only have males now, but back when we had both sexes, it was interesting to see how cross-sex relationships were formed, and how the two sexes would interact.If some of the other inhabitants of the reef are having what I like to call “fishues” and splashing around, you can see the BTR sharks respond immediately. (No doubt they’ve detected the disturbance in the water by way of their lateral lines–ingenious sensory organs that run down the length of their bodies.) They stop idly cruising and go into full-on Predator Mode. You’ll see them start to swim in formation, with one shark swimming slightly ahead and the others riding in his wake. They peel off and turn with a sleekness you don’t normally see otherwise.Until our Queensland grouper grows into her full nine-foot-long adult size, these little sharks will be the most impressive predator we have in that exhibit. There is, however, one thing that will send them swimming for cover.A human diver.Seriously, when the divers are in there to feed the fish, the BTR sharks make themselves scarce. They’re obligate ram breathers, so they can’t tuck themselves away into a crevice and hide, but if they could, they almost certainly would. It’s one of my favorite things about them: The fact that they are actual babies. Predators worthy of respect, but also actual babies. -- source link