(NewsNation) — An underwater camera monitoring the marine ecosystem in the Cayman Islands caught a rare look at the threatened whitetip shark.
The video was recorded by an underwater camera system, the shark seeming to be interested in the camera and swimming around the area repeatedly. The footage was caught by the Blue Belts Global Ocean Wildlife Analysis Network project.
Whitetip sharks live in tropical and subtropical areas, living in deep waters but spending much of their time near the upper part of the ocean. The population of whitetip sharks has declined dramatically due to being caught as bycatch by fishermen and because of a demand for the fins.
The sharks grow to more than 11 feet long and the largest recorded have weighed up to 370 pounds. Because they live in open waters, whitetip sharks rarely attack humans, but are considered one of the more dangerous species of sharks and are highly aggressive.
Whitetip sharks are believed to have been responsible for the up to 150 shark attacks that occurred after the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis, where crewmen were stranded in open water for three days.
Because the sharks can’t pump water across their gills, they never stop swimming. The sharks are considered vulnerable to extinction, in part because their large fins are in high demand for shark fin soup.
The species is considered critically endangered but lacks protections under law.