Scientific name: Galeocerdo cuvier

Common names: Tiger Shark

Habitat: On or near continental and insular shelves, surface and intertidal to possibly 140 metres. May prefer turbid areas with high runoff of fresh water, including estuaries and harbours, also coral atolls and lagoons. Can travel long distances between islands.

Known Predators: Only real predators are humans

Measurements: Born: 51 - 76 cm

Males: 226 - 290 cm

Females: 250 - 350 cm

Max: 540 cm (one record of 740 cm)

Identification: Colour grey above with vertical black to dark grey bars and spots, bold in young but fading in adults, white below. Huge striped shark with a broad bluntly rounded snout, very long upper labial furrows, big mouth with large, saw-edged, cockscomb-shaped teeth, spiracles. Prominent interdorsal ridge and low caudal keels.

Behaviour: Apparently nocturnal, moving in-shore at night to very shallow water and to deeper areas by day. Smaller Tiger sharks may be more active by day. Usually solitary but may aggregate when feeding. Strong swimmers; often moving through a very large semi-resident home range.

Diet: They mainly eat fish, seals, birds, smaller sharks, squid, turtles, and dolphins, however it has been recorded that they eat various other things including carrion and rubbish, but it does not form part of their main diet.

Biology: Very large litters (10 - 82 pups) born in spring and early summer. Gestation may be slightly over a year. Fast growing and matures at four to six years, longevity at least 12 years.

IUCN Conservation Status: Near threatened

Where to dive with them: Umkomaas, South Africa

Distribution: