In the 1970s and 1980s and earlier, the Maldives was world-renowned as an important region for sharks. Because of that, it became a shark diving hotspot. It seemed like there were sharks everywhere!

Beginning in the mid-70's, two events occurred that have been bad for sharks: the introduction of gillnets, which greatly increase the efficiency of shark fishing, and the increase in demand and the money paid for shark fins. The Maldives has traditionally been a tuna fishing nation. But the demand for shark fins prompted fishermen to target sharks, as well. Accordingly, the number of sharks in the Maldives has dramatically fallen since that time because of intensive fishing. To a large extent, the shark fishery has already collapsed in certain areas, along with the shark populations. Sharks are still aggressively targeted where they exist, and virtually all the fish that are caught are finned and the fins are exported.

There are virtually no laws or quotas protecting sharks in the Maldives. There is some protection in the reefs with resorts, but enforcement is not sufficient.

However, there are still a few places where it is possible to find relatively healthy shark populations. And, there are still a few species of sharks which are regularly encountered in the Maldives. These sharks are described below.

Blacktip reef shark

The blacktip reef shark is found on coral reefs, where the water is shallow (in fact, its Divehi name is falhu miyaru). It doesn’t grow particularly big by shark standards, and in the Maldives it can be very shy and difficult to see – unless it is fed regularly by people! Its colour varies from light grey to browny-yellow, which is probably very useful for camouflage against the sandy reef.

Grey reef shark

This is a very recognizable shark, and one of the most popular for divers to see. It is another shark which lives on coral reefs, cruising up and down the edge of the reef, often in large groups. People used to feed these sharks by hand in the Maldives and so the sharks became very tame, but now this is not done anymore and the sharks don’t come quite so close to divers.

Oceanic whitetip shark

Although this shark is quite common, it is rarely seen by people because it lives in the ocean outside the atolls. It has very big fins which helps it swim in the open water, where is hunts for fish. It is very curious and will often come and investigate fishing boats out at sea.

Whale shark

The whale shark is the biggest fish in the world, and they can grow over 15 long! The Maldives is a very good place to see these gentle giants, and people visit from all over the world to swim with them. They do have very tiny teeth, but these are not used for feeding; instead they suck water into their mouths and filter out tiny animals using their enormous gills.

Go to the next page for a more complete list of the Sharks of the Maldives.