what man-eating sharks are found in Philippines?

[Mike Veitch]

Well to give a serious answer, unfortunately there are very few large, or any, sharks left in the Phils now. They have all been overfished, even the Threshers around Malapascua are regularly fished.
There are bound to be a few Tigers around but not many. There would also be a few pelagic species around, Galapagos, OCeanic White Tip but again not that many. Unfortunately with the strong fishing tradition and the economic situation in the Phils most large fish have been fished out.

 

[Spoon]

I was just teasing ya! I would assume you would have tiger sharks there and a few others that MIGHT nip at a human being. It has been a while since I've dived Asia or the South Pacific, but I never had any trouble with the sharks I encountered while I was there.

Here people worry about the great white. In nearly 45 years of diving (well, 36 here in SoCal) the onlty time I've seen a GWS (other than topside) was when I was cage diving to film them off Guadalupe Island).

ive seen documentaries on the guadalupe whites many times in natl geo and discovery channel. must have been surreal, add the eerie backdrop and you got the perfect script. is it just me??? for some reason the surroundings and the general look of the guadalupe landscape and vicinity seem so eerie.

 

[paolov]

Well to give a serious answer, unfortunately there are very few large, or any, sharks left in the Phils now. They have all been overfished, even the Threshers around Malapascua are regularly fished..

i can attest to this , when i visisted malapascua i went around the island, and in a barangay near the light house, you could see "BAÑERAS" of juvenile thresher sharks, just under 1meter in length.

not to mention the other species they catch on a regular basis.

 

[paolov]

there are great schools of hammerhead sharks in the area of Camiguin (before the dynamited them) and around the west coast of the archipelago.

sightings of great white sharks have been mentioned on the northern tip that's the sea between north philipines and taiwan waters. this was reported by the whale watching team that documented some whale species migrating. so they say......

i don't know if Dr. Bill would know of these. but i was invited two years ago to join the group in documenting them whale migration. though i was not able to join.

 

[Spoon]

there are great schools of hammerhead sharks in the area of Camiguin (before the dynamited them) and around the west coast of the archipelago.

sightings of great white sharks have been mentioned on the northern tip that's the sea between north philipines and taiwan waters. this was reported by the whale watching team that documented some whale species migrating. so they say......

i don't know if Dr. Bill would know of these. but i was invited two years ago to join the group in documenting them whale migration. though i was not able to join.

has there been an actual gwhite shark sighting? i have often wondered this. in fact, if you check the region X department of fisheries website, it states that hunting of the carcardon carcharias is stricktly prohibited. by this i assume they are in our waters right?

 

[joyfulsun]

Tiger sharks, oceanic white tips and great hammerheads (the ones swimming alone) are the ones you should avoid when diving in the Philippines. Yes I did hear the news about the great-white sightings. Does the Philippines have bull sharks?

We saw a great hammerhead ..guess where? 80 feet off Koala's Rock, Anilao.

 

[silent running]

Hello joyfulsun, I'm considering a trip to the Philippines. Where would I have the best chance of seeing any of the bigger animals, like a Great Hammer? It seems the Philippines have a bad reputaion for shark sightings in general. What was your experience?

 

[Spoon]

Hello joyfulsun, I'm considering a trip to the Philippines. Where would I have the best chance of seeing any of the bigger animals, like a Great Hammer? It seems the Philippines have a bad reputaion for shark sightings in general. What was your experience?

there are regular sightings of hammerheads in Apo reef and tubbataha. my friends have confirmed this.

 

[joyfulsun]

Hi Silent Running,

Yes do come to the Philippines!

For regular shark sightings:

Tubbataha has a lot of the usual reef sharks - grey reef, black tips and white tips, plus your resident turtles and occasional mantas, eagles rays and hammerheads. But you can only dive this from March - May and only by liveaboard. You join the liveaboard from Palawan.

Donsol Sorsogon is a rich feeding ground for whalesharks! But you can only snorkel with them, no scuba diving. In one day, I was able to swim with 8-10 sharks, I was so proud of this, but when my friends went, they had 40 sightings in a day. Darn! Season is from late Jan to May. Nearby is Ticao Sorsogon where you can dive with Pacific mantas (really huge) but currents are ripping. If very lucky, there are also sharks..threshers and hammers, but I didn’t see the sharks.

I also heard that off Sorsogon, there is an island where schooling hammerheads have been found. Diving is not yet developed, but there is a researcher there and she has been studying these schooling hammerheads. Probably they moved here from Cabilao Bohol.

I have been lucky also to see the thresher sharks of Malapascua, Cebu unfortunately, sightings have not been as regular as before. But they are still there. There are also a lot of resident white tips (quite big) in Gato Island, off Malapascua.

The great hammerhead that we saw in Koala’s, Anilao Batangas was like winning the sweepstakes. Just being there at the right time, right place. It was just passing by. Although from what I heard, people who have been diving in Anilao in the early eighties have seen hammerheads off Ligpo Island. Maybe, the hammer we saw was making its way home to Ligpo. Anilao Batangas has its share of resident reef sharks, most of the time, they’re juveniles sleeping under caves.

In Boracay, there is also an advanced divesite called Yapak. You can also see your big sharks here especially when the currents are running. I saw the biggest grey reef in this site.

In Puerto Galera, there is Shark cave, you’ll find the white tips sleeping inside.

Apo Reef is also best dived by liveaboard. Usual reef sharks plus occasional tigers and hammers if lucky.

 

[silent running]

Thanks joyfulsun for the detailed info. It will be very helpful for planning my trip. It seems that the second week in Oct, when I will be able to travel, is Apo season on some liveaboards. What are the water temps like that time of the year?