Bull sharks at Chumphon Pinnacle

[Makhno]

Going around Koh Samui and Koh Tao dive centers is the news that the sharks at Chumphon Pinnacle, which most of us had thought were grey reef sharks, have been identified by a couple of shark experts as bull sharks.

See Bull Sharks of Chumphon Pinnacle

I, too, had thought that they were grey reef sharks, because the bull sharks I've dived with in the past didn't have the black colored tail fins, as grey reef sharks do, and as most of the sharks at Chumphon Pinnacle do. From what I've been reading in recent days, though, such dark fin markings are not uncommon on younger bull sharks, and can be seen on some fully adult individuals.

Chumphon Pinnacle is now one of only a few dive sites around the world where there is a very good likelihood of seeing bull sharks (the dive site Big Scare in the Bat Islands of Costa Rica is one, there's another somewhere in South Africa, and one or two in the Bahamas). Not to mention the chance of seeing whale sharks ...

[plonske]

So, Chumphon Pinnacle is a littlebit dangergous for diving, or insn't?
Or is it unique divesite now?

[Makhno]

Not, not dangerous -- I've never heard of a shark attack or other incident at this site, and people dive it every day, and have for years. Bull sharks have a reputation as being aggressive, but that reputation doesn't apply to scuba divers who are minding our own business (i.e., not spearfishing, chumming or otherwise feeding the fishes, etc.).

The site isn't unique, as I've dived a site in Costa Rica (the Big Scare, in the Bat Islands) which also has bull sharks almost every dive, and I know there's a site or two in the Bahamas featuring bull sharks, and one in South Africa too. So, not truly unique, but it is rare to have bull sharks at a specific dive sites so often (I've seen at least one of them there every single time I've dived Chumphon Pinnacle in the past 4 months ... before that it was 2 dives out of 3).

[drbill]

Interesting. I dove Chumphon Pinnacle back in 2001 and don't even remember seeing sharks. Maybe I sould check my dive log. I do remember there being whale sharks... and that I didn't see them because we were diving too deep. Sniff.

[Arizona]

I've been there twice and each time sighted sharks at about 30m. Quite the experience! Glad to hear they don't like divers. Aren't Bull Sharks common in Australia?

[docmartin]

strange that it took two "shark experts" to figure this out. don't want to brag but i could tell at the first glance of the dorsal fin that that ain't no reef shark but rather a bull. by the way, the place in south africa is called protea banks and the best site in the bahamas is walker's cay where you could snorkel with them right off the beach. unfortunately, since the resort has been destroyed by a hurricane it's kind of difficult to get there these days.

[Ringo]

As docmartin says the Bull Sharks are seen very regularly at Protea Banks in South Africa. They are commonly known there as the Zambezi Sharks.

[Makhno]

strange that it took two "shark experts" to figure this out. don't want to brag but i could tell at the first glance of the dorsal fin that that ain't no reef shark but rather a bull.

Yeah, a bit embarrassing ... I was led astray, and perhaps others were as well, by my fish ID book, "Reef Fish Identification -- Tropical Pacific" by Gerald Allen, Roger Steene, Paul Humann, and Ned DeLoach. The photos of grey reef and bull sharks in that (otherwise very good) book are taken from vantage points which don't show the differences in their dorsal fins very well, and the text emphasizes that grey reef sharks have a "broad black margin on the tail fin" (like the Chumphon Pinnacle sharks have), and "no markings on fins" for bull sharks - which is not always the case, evidently ...

[jamiemac]

we've all known for a long time, 15 years, that we have at least two different species of shark swimming together at Chumporn, not including the spotty species.

Until the 'experts' started calling us idiots for not knowing and diving with DANGEROUS juvenile BULL sharks we didn't really mind what they were, they're great to see and we're lucky to have them back after they went missing for a year after the Tsnami

does it matter if your mates from down under are Aussies or Kiwis? course, not, they're all the same, right?

[kgdiver]

I have seen Bull Sharks on two occasions @ Chumpon Pinnacle. I think it is a fairly common place to find them. Both were about 7 feet in length and thicker than any reef shark I have ever seen.