Oceanic Whitetip Attack on Whale Tour Snorkeler - Moorea

[HalcyonDaze]

I was talking to the tour guide for my Moorea trip last month and she mentioned this incident. Having encountered one juvenile male whitetip at the FAD buoy between Tahiti and Moorea on my trip, I can attest that they definitely demand a watchful eye and a healthy respect for their capabilities.

Shark tears Frenchwoman's hands off in attack off Polynesian paradise island

 

[Diver below 83]

What’s this around the sharks neck? Looks almost like a reg necklace

 

[Dan]

Sounds like snorkeling with whale in that area is bad news.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Sounds like snorkeling with whale in that area is bad news.

Oceanic whitetips tend to associate with pilot whales, but the one we ran into was not while looking for whales - the guide and the other three people on my trip dropped on the FAD buoy because pelagics tend to visit. I was trying to get something sorted out (probably my camera) and the rest of the gang was about to tell me not to jump in when I dropped over the side. Then they figured they'd wait for me to join them before bagging it, and right before I got to the group a little ~1.5-meter oceanic whitetip turned up. Despite the fact that he was smaller than any of us and outnumbered 5-1, he made multiple close passes from different angles and I got the distinct impression that if we weren't all on guard he might have tried something.







For context, that last shot isn't "Let me pet this little cutie," it's "I'm putting myself between you and my clients so you don't get any cute ideas."

I would change that statement of yours to "snorkeling with whales in that area while not staying on guard is bad news." Our guide kept lookout and we were told to always watch out for them on our own also. That was the only encounter we had; one of the others had been on the same trip with the same guide last year and they got surrounded by about eight oceanics.

The Ma'o Mana Foundation (associated with Moorea Moana Tours) is trying to educate the local whale charters on shark awareness, but I'm not sure how much traction that's got. One of the big issues is that the number of whale charters is going up rapidly; this past year 12 new boats (from at least 7 entirely new tour operations) were added to the existing 21. I'm told that a number of them are not locally-run either; the crews fly in from France for whale season and fly out afterwards.

Professional Training — MA'O MANA FOUNDATION

 

[Dan]

What’s this around the sharks neck? Looks almost like a reg necklace
View attachment 546310

This juvy OWT days are numbered if no one cut off that choker. Poor guy.

 

[Dan]

Oceanic whitetips tend to associate with pilot whales, but the one we ran into was not while looking for whales - the guide and the other three people on my trip dropped on the FAD buoy because pelagics tend to visit. I was trying to get something sorted out (probably my camera) and the rest of the gang was about to tell me not to jump in when I dropped over the side. Then they figured they'd wait for me to join them before bagging it, and right before I got to the group a little ~1.5-meter oceanic whitetip turned up. Despite the fact that he was smaller than any of us and outnumbered 5-1, he made multiple close passes from different angles and I got the distinct impression that if we weren't all on guard he might have tried something.

View attachment 546314

View attachment 546313

View attachment 546311

For context, that last shot isn't "Let me pet this little cutie," it's "I'm putting myself between you and my clients so you don't get any cute ideas."

I would change that statement of yours to "snorkeling with whales in that area while not staying on guard is bad news." Our guide kept lookout and we were told to always watch out for them on our own also. That was the only encounter we had; one of the others had been on the same trip with the same guide last year and they got surrounded by about eight oceanics.

The Ma'o Mana Foundation (associated with Moorea Moana Tours) is trying to educate the local whale charters on shark awareness, but I'm not sure how much traction that's got. One of the big issues is that the number of whale charters is going up rapidly; this past year 12 new boats were added to the existing 21. I'm told that a number of them are not locally-run either; the crews fly in from France for whale season and fly out afterwards.

Professional Training — MA'O MANA FOUNDATION

Would they let you scuba dive with the whale and oceanic whitetip there? To me that would be safer than snorkeling.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Would they let you scuba dive with the whale and oceanic whitetip there? To me that would be safer than snorkeling.

In Moorea even freediving with the humpbacks is not permitted; you stay on the surface and let them decide if they want to approach. And I'm told that diving down at the oceanics from the surface generally results in a "come at me, bro" response. This is also typically deep water; I think our oceanic encounter was over a mile above the bottom. Relatively speaking, you're still on the surface.

Given that the Red Sea boats have had a few oceanic whitetip incidents of late, I don't think scuba would particularly help. This is a problem to address with better situational awareness, not gear. After talking to one shark researcher I got this memorable description: "They are pelagic survivors and one of the most cunning of sharks. I have been in the water with up to 11 of them and don't trust them at all. We have had them try to ambush snorkelers on the surface. Plus one nailed me while trying to tag and put me in hospital for 2 days."

 

[chillyinCanada]

This juvy OWT days are numbered if no one cut off that choker. Poor guy.

Looks like metal to me. He's so deformed too, it's a wonder it's been able to eat.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I was talking to the tour guide for my Moorea trip last month and she mentioned this incident. Having encountered one juvenile male whitetip at the FAD buoy between Tahiti and Moorea on my trip, I can attest that they definitely demand a watchful eye and a healthy respect for their capabilities.

Shark tears Frenchwoman's hands off in attack off Polynesian paradise island

That's pretty horrific.