Oceanic whitetip shark#Behaviour

The oceanic whitetip shark is known by many other english common names: Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, shipwreck shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, whitetip shark,{{cite web|author=Bester, Cathleen|title=Oceanic Whitetip Shark|publisher=Florida Museum of Natural history|access-date=22 July 2006|url=http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/OceanicWT/OceanicWT.html|archive-date=15 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215022230/http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/OceanicWT/OceanicWT.html|url-status=live}} or lesser white shark.

This species was described in 1831 by naturalist René-Primevère Lesson, who named the shark Carcharhinus maou. It was next described by the Cuban Felipe Poey in 1861 as Squalus longimanus.{{ITIS |id=160330 |taxon=Carcharhinus longimanus (Poey, 1861) |access-date=18 August 2008}} The name Pterolamiops longimanus has also been used. The rules of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature are that in general the first-published description has priority; therefore, the valid scientific name for the oceanic whitetip shark should be Carcharhinus maou. However, Lesson's name remained forgotten for so long that Carcharhinus longimanus remains widely accepted.{{cite book|author=Compagno, Leonard J. V.|title=Sharks of the World: An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|year=1984|pages=484–86, 555–61, 588|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ad123e/ad123e00.htm|volume=4, Part 2. Carcharhiniformes|isbn=978-92-5-101383-0|access-date=24 September 2012|archive-date=22 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822041335/http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ad123e/ad123e00.HTM|url-status=live}} The species epithet {{lang|la|longimanus}} refers to the size of its pectoral fins (longi-manus means "long hands" in Latin).

This shark is found worldwide between 45°N and 43°S latitude. It lives in deep, open oceans, with a temperature greater than {{cvt|18|C|0}},{{FishBase | genus = Carcharhinus | species = longimanus | year = 2013 | month = February}} It prefers water temperatures above {{convert|20|C|F|abbr=on}}, and up to {{convert|28|C|F|abbr=on}} but can also be found in waters as cool as {{convert|15|C|F|abbr=on}} but avoids temperatures lower than this. It was once extremely common and widely distributed, and still inhabits a wide band around the globe; however, recent studies suggest that its numbers have drastically declined.{{cite journal|author1=Baum, J.K.|author-link1=Julia K. Baum|author2=Myers, R.A.|name-list-style=amp|year=2004|title=Shifting baselines and the decline of pelagic sharks in the Gulf of Mexico|journal=Ecology Letters|volume=7|issue=3|pages=135–45|doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2003.00564.x|bibcode=2004EcolL...7..135B |url=http://www.fmap.ca/ramweb/papers-total/Baum_Myers_2004.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216091202/http://www.fmap.ca/ramweb/papers-total/Baum_Myers_2004.pdf|archive-date=16 February 2012}}

The shark spends most of its time in the upper layer of the ocean—to a depth of {{cvt|150|m|-1}}—and prefers off-shore, deep-ocean areas. According to longline capture data, increasing distance from land correlates to a greater population of sharks. It is sometimes found close to land, in waters as shallow as only {{cvt|37|m|-1}} deep, mainly around oceanic islands and narrow continental shelves.

C. longimanus{{'}} most distinguishing characteristics are its long, wing-like pectoral and dorsal fins. The fins are significantly larger than most other shark species, and have conspicuously rounded tips. The shark's snout is rounded and its eyes are circular, with nictitating membranes.

File:Carcharhinus longimanus jaws.jpg

The species is grey-bronze dorsally and white ventrally, being countershaded. As its name suggests, most of its fins (dorsal, pectoral, pelvic and caudal) have white tips. Along with white tips, the fins may be mottled, and young specimens can have black marks. A saddle-shaped patch may be apparent between first and second dorsal fins. The shark has two morphs of teeth; those in the mandible (lower jaw) are thinner with a serrated tip, while the teeth in the upper jaw are triangular, but much larger and wider with entirely serrated edges. The lower jaw has between 13 and 15 teeth on either half of the jaw, while the upper has 14 or 15 on each half. The denticles are nearly flat and wide, typically have between five and seven ridges. There is little overlap between them, revealing some bare skin.

The oceanic whitetip shark is a robust, large-bodied shark. The largest specimen ever caught measured at more than {{cvt|4|m}} in length, though they usually grow up to {{cvt|3|m|ft|0}} in length and {{Cvt|150|kg|lb}} in weight.{{cite journal |last1=Andrzejaczek |first1=Samantha |last2=Gleiss |first2=Adrian C. |last3=Jordan |first3=Lance K. B. |last4=Pattiaratchi |first4=Charitha B. |last5=Howey |first5=Lucy A. |last6=Brooks |first6=Edward J. |last7=Meekan |first7=Mark G. |title=Temperature and the vertical movements of oceanic whitetip sharks, Carcharhinus longimanus |journal=Scientific Reports |date=29 May 2018 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=8351 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-26485-3 |pmid=29844605 |language=en |issn=2045-2322|pmc=5974137 |bibcode=2018NatSR...8.8351A }} However, the all-tackle record listed by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) is {{Cvt|167|kg|lb}} for a {{Convert|2.2|m|ft|adj=on}} long individual, suggesting that weight is likely much more in larger individuals.{{cite book |last1=Carrier |first1=Jeffrey C. |title=Sharks of the Shallows: Coastal Species in Florida and the Bahamas |date=31 August 2017 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-1-4214-2295-4 |pages=108 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLkyDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} The female is typically larger than the male by {{cvt|10|cm|in}}. In the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s, the mean weight of oceanic whitetip sharks was {{cvt|86.4|kg}}. In the 1990s, the sharks of the species from the same area averaged only {{cvt|56.1|kg}}.{{cite web |title=Consideration of Proposals for Amendment of Appendices I and II (CoP15 Prop. 16) |url=http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/15/prop/E-15-Prop-16.pdf |date=March 2010 |publisher=Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512161229/http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/15/prop/E-15-Prop-16.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2013 }}

The oceanic whitetip is typically solitary, though gatherings have been observed where food is plentiful. It swims during the day and night. The oceanic whitetip usually moves slowly, cruising near the top of the water column in open water. During summer, when the ocean surface is warmer, oceanic whitetips tend to swim more quickly and at deeper depths.{{cite journal|last1=Andrzejaczek|first1=S|last2=Gleiss|first2=A. C.|last3=Jordan|first3=L. K. B.|last4=Pattiaratchi|first4=C. B.|last5=Howey|first5=L. A.|last6=Brooks|first6=E. J.|last7=Meekan|first7=M. G.|year=2018|title=Temperature and the vertical movements of oceanic whitetip sharks, Carcharhinus longimanus|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=8|issue=1|page=8351|doi=10.1038/s41598-018-26485-3|pmid=29844605|pmc=5974137|bibcode=2018NatSR...8.8351A|s2cid=256958905}} They have been observed to breach out of the water (akin to a whale).{{cite journal|last1=Papastamatiou|first1=Y. P.|last2=Iosilevskii|first2=G|last3=Leos-Barajas|first3=V|last4=Brooks|first4=E. J.|last5=Howey|first5=L. A.|last6=Chapman|first6=D. D.|last7=Watanabe|first7=Y. Y.|year=2018|title=Optimal swimming strategies and behavioral plasticity of oceanic whitetip sharks|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=8|issue=1|page=551|doi=10.1038/s41598-017-18608-z|pmid=29323131 |pmc=5765167 |bibcode=2018NatSR...8..551P }}

The species feeds mainly on pelagic cephalopods, like squid, and bony fish, such as lancetfish, threadfins, oarfish, barracuda, jacks, mahi-mahi, marlin, tuna, and mackerel. However, its diet can be far more varied and less selective—it is known to eat stingrays, sea turtles, seabirds, gastropods, crustaceans, and marine mammal carcasses. Its feeding methods include swimming through schools of frenzied tuna with an open mouth, waiting for the fish to swim in before biting down; when whaling formerly took place in warm waters, oceanic whitetips were the most common scavengers of floating carcasses, which may explain why they are sometimes considered one of the "whaler sharks". Whitetips commonly compete for food with silky sharks, explaining{{Clarify|reason=Awkward word choice|date=May 2025}} its comparatively leisurely swimming style combined with aggressive displays. They are known to trail pilot whales as they both feed on squid. Evidence in the form of sucker scars on the skin of an individual filmed off Hawaii indicate that the species may also dive deep enough to battle with large squid, such as the giant squid.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/sharks-fought-large-deep-sea-squid-first-time|title=This shark fought off a deep-sea squid, first-ever picture reveals|date=5 June 2020|website=Animals|access-date=19 October 2021|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228082225/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/sharks-fought-large-deep-sea-squid-first-time|url-status=live}}

Groups often form when individual sharks converge on a food source. They are recorded to segregate by both sex and size. They commonly get into feeding frenzies. Oceanic whitetips gather in large numbers off Cat Island, Bahamas from winter to spring, due to the abundance of large bony fish.{{cite journal|last1=Madigan|first1=D. J.|last2=Brooks|first2=E. J.|last3=Bond|first3=M. E.|last4=Gelsleichter|first4=J|last5=Howey|first5=L. A.|last6=Abercrombie|first6=D. L.|last7=Brooks|first7=A|last8=Chapman|first8=D. D.|year=2015|title=Diet shift and site-fidelity of oceanic whitetip sharks Carcharhinus longimanus along the Great Bahama Bank|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|volume=529|pages=185–197|doi=10.3354/meps11302|bibcode=2015MEPS..529..185M |doi-access=free}}

Pilot fish, dolphinfish, and remora may follow these sharks.

File:Carcharhinus longimanus 1.jpg, Egypt, accompanied by pilot fish|alt=Shark accompanied by group of fish with black and white vertical stripes and split tail fin]]

Mating and birthing seems to occur in early summer in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and southwest Indian Ocean, although females captured in the Pacific have been found with embryos year round, suggesting a longer mating season there. The shark is viviparous—embryos develop in utero and are fed by a placental sac. Its gestation period lasts nine months to one year.{{cite book|last1=Bonfil|first1=Ramón|last2=Nakano|first2=Hideki|year=2008|contribution=The Biology and Ecology of the Oceanic Whitetip Shark, Carcharhinus Longimanus|title=The Biology and Ecology of the Oceanic Whitetip Shark, Carcharhinus Longimanus|editor1=Camhi, Merry D.|editor2=Pikitch, Ellen K.|editor3=Babcock, Elizabeth A.|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|pages=128–139|isbn=9780632059959}}{{cite journal|last1=Seki|first1=T|last2=Taniuchi|first2=T|last3=Nakano|first3=H|last4=Shimizu|first4=M|year=1998|title=Age, Growth and Reproduction of the Oceanic Whitetip Shark from the Pacific Ocean|journal=Fisheries Science|volume=64|issue=1|pages=14–20|doi=10.2331/fishsci.64.14|doi-access=free|bibcode=1998FisSc..64...14S}} In the northwest Atlantic, shark pups are born {{convert|65–75|cm|abbr=on}} long while off South Africa, birth length is {{convert|60–65|cm|abbr=on}} long. In the Pacific Ocean, newborns average {{convert|45–55|cm|abbr=on}} long, and number two to fourteen per litter.

In one population off Brazil, sharks were recorded to grow an average of {{convert|25.2|cm|abbr=on}} in one year, reducing to {{convert|13.6|cm|abbr=on}} per year up to four years and then {{convert|9.7|cm|abbr=on}} in their fifth year. Both sexes reached maturity at {{convert|180|–|190|cm|abbr=on}} between the ages of six and seven and continued to grow at {{convert|9.10|cm|abbr=on}} per year.{{cite journal|last1=Lessa|first1=R|last2=Santana|first2=F. M.|last3=Paglerani|first3=R|year=1999|title=Age, growth and stock structure of the oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, from the southwestern equatorial Atlantic|journal=Fisheries Research|volume=42|issue=1–2|pages=21–30|doi=10.1016/S0165-7836(99)00045-4|bibcode=1999FishR..42...21L}} The average length of maturity for sharks averages in the greater equatorial and southwestern Atlantic is {{convert|170|cm|abbr=on}} for females and {{convert|170|–|190|cm|abbr=on}} for males.{{cite journal|last1=dos Santos Tambourgi|first1=M. R.|last2=Hazin|first2=F|last3=Oliveira|first3=P. G. V.|last4=Coelho|first4=R|last5=Burgess|first5=G. H.|last6=Roque|first6=P|year=2013|title=Reproductive aspects of the oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus (Elasmobranchii: Carcharhinidae), in the equatorial and southwestern Atlantic Ocean|journal=Brazilian Journal of Oceanography|volume=61|issue=2|pages=161–168|doi=10.1590/S1679-87592013000200008|hdl=10400.1/8957|hdl-access=free}} In the Pacific, sharks appear to mature at four to five years. One oceanic whitetip shark was estimated to have lived 22 years.{{Cite web |title=Carcharhinus longimanus summary page |url=https://www.fishbase.de/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=875&AT=Sharks |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=FishBase |language=en}}

File:Carcharias maou - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam - UBA01 IZ14100041.tif

Until the 16th century, sharks were known to mariners as "sea dogs"{{cite book|title=The History of Underwater Exploration|author=Marx, R.F.|year=1990|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|page=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oiWFhoRzPBQC&pg=PA3|isbn=978-0-486-26487-5|access-date=15 July 2016|archive-date=30 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630000847/http://books.google.com/books?id=oiWFhoRzPBQC&pg=PA3|url-status=live}} and the oceanic whitetip the most common ship-following shark. Oceanographic researcher Jacques Cousteau described the oceanic whitetip as "the most dangerous of all sharks".{{cite book|author1=Cousteau, Jacques-Yves |author2=Cousteau, Philippe |name-list-style=amp |title=The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea|publisher= Doubleday & Company, Inc.|year=1970}} Author and big-game fisherman Ernest Hemingway depicted them as aggressive opportunists that attacked the catch of fishermen in The Old Man and the Sea, which may be based on Hemingway's experience fishing from his boat, the Pilar.{{cite web |title=Hemingway's Sharks |url=https://seahistory.org/sea-history-for-kids/sharks/ |website=Sea History for Kids |publisher=National Maritime Historical Society |access-date=9 December 2022}}

During World War II, the RMS Nova Scotia, a steamship carrying about 1,000 people near South Africa, was sunk by a German submarine in the morning of 28 November 1942. One hundred and ninety-two people survived; many deaths were attributed to the whitetip.{{cite book|last1=Bass|first1=A.J.|last2=D'Aubrey|first2=J.D.|last3=Kistnasamy|first3=N.|year=1973|title=Sharks of the east coast of southern Africa. 1. The genus Carcharhinus (Carcharhinidae)|publisher=Oceanographic Research Institute|location=Durban|pages=49–55|isbn=0869890085|url=http://www.saambr.org.za/uploads/files/oriinvrep33.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906062858/http://www.saambr.org.za/uploads/files/oriinvrep33.pdf|archive-date=6 September 2013}} Later in the war, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed on 30 July 1945. Some sailors who survived the sinking reportedly died from exposure to the elements and some may have died from shark bites.{{cite book|last=Stanton|first=Doug|author-link=Doug Stanton|title=In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors|year=2003|publisher=H. Holt|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8050-7366-9|edition=1st Owl Books}} According to survivor accounts published in several books about sharks and shark attacks, potentially hundreds of the Indianapolis crew were eventually killed by sharks before a plane spotted them on the fifth day after the sinking. Oceanic whitetips are believed to have been responsible for most if not all of those attacks.{{Verify quote|date=May 2025}}{{cite web|author=Martin, R. Aidan|title=Elasmo Research|publisher=ReefQuest|access-date=6 February 2006|url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/shark_profiles/carcharhinidae.htm|archive-date=6 February 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206201309/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/shark_profiles/carcharhinidae.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite book |last1=Helm |first1=Thomas |title=Shark! Unpredictable Killer of the Sea |date=1969 |publisher=Collier Books |edition=6}}

File:Longimanus RedSea2009.ogv

Subsequently, the species is recorded to have attacked 21 people between 1955 and 2020, including nine divers, eight swimmers, two fishermen, one shipwrecked person and one fallen pilot. Five of these attacks were fatal.{{cite journal|last1=Clua|first1=E. C. G.|last2=Demarchi|first2=S|last3=Meyer|first3=C. G.|year=2021|title=Suspected predatory bites on a snorkeler by an oceanic whitetip shark Carcharhinus longimanus off Moorea island (French Polynesia)|journal=Journal of Forensic Sciences|volume=66|issue=6|pages=2493–2498|doi=10.1111/1556-4029.14865|pmid=34418091 |s2cid=237260630 }} In 2010, one oceanic whitetip was implicated in several bites on tourists in the Red Sea near Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, resulting in one death and four injuries to humans. Accumulating evidence revealed this shark to have been conditioned to being hand fed.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8182320/Egypt-German-tourist-killed-in-fourth-Sharm-el-Sheikh-shark-attack-in-a-week.html Egypt: German tourist killed in fourth Sharm el-Sheikh shark attack in a week] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715051824/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8182320/Egypt-German-tourist-killed-in-fourth-Sharm-el-Sheikh-shark-attack-in-a-week.html |date=15 July 2018 }}. telegraph.co.uk (5 December 2010)[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-experts-head-to-egypt-to-probe-shark-attacks/ US Experts Head to Egypt to Probe Shark Attacks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110112328/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-experts-head-to-egypt-to-probe-shark-attacks/ |date=10 November 2016 }}. CBS News (7 December 2010) In October 2019, an oceanic whitetip shark attacked a female snorkeler off Mo'orea, French Polynesia, but the person survived. Based on eyewitness reports and examinations of the bites, the shark appears to have been acting like a predator attacking prey.

The oceanic whitetip has been kept in captivity. Among five recorded captive oceanic whitetips, the three with time records all lived for more than a year in captivity. One of these, a female in Monterey Bay Aquarium's Outer-Bay exhibit, lived for more than three years before dying in 2003, during which it grew {{cvt|0.3|m|ft|0}}.{{cite web|url=http://elasmollet.org/Cl/Cl_captive.html|title=Oceanic Whitetip Shark Carcharhinus longimanus (Poey, 1861) in Captivity|publisher=H. F. Mollet|access-date=15 May 2014|archive-date=15 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515070529/http://elasmollet.org/Cl/Cl_captive.html|url-status=usurped}}{{Cite web|url=https://napavalleyregister.com/news/monterey-aquarium-whitetip-shark-dies-after-three-years/article_f1a6dbf9-4fac-5580-8e47-ebe2c17236f8.html|title=Monterey aquarium whitetip shark dies after three years|website=Napa Valley Register|date=24 December 2003 |access-date=10 July 2020|archive-date=10 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710154647/https://napavalleyregister.com/news/monterey-aquarium-whitetip-shark-dies-after-three-years/article_f1a6dbf9-4fac-5580-8e47-ebe2c17236f8.html|url-status=live}} The two remaining lack a time record, but grew about {{cvt|0.5|m|ft}} during their time in captivity.

File:Oceanic whitetip shark at Elphinstone Reef.jpged fish hook in its mouth]]

Oceanic whitetip sharks are mainly threatened by fisheries, sometimes intentional but usually as bycatch. They are victims of longlines, hook-lines, gillnets and trawls. The sharks are used for their fins and meat. It is eaten fresh, smoked, dried, or salted, and its skin made into leather. Bycatching of oceanic whitetip sharks may be reduced by removing hooks from longliners when they are in shallow water.{{cite journal|last1=Tolotti|first1=M. T.|last2=Bach|first2=P|last3=Hazin|first3=F|last4=Travassos|first4=P|last5=Dagorn|first5=L|year=2015|title=Vulnerability of the oceanic whitetip shark to pelagic longline fisheries|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=10|issue=10|page=e0141396|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0141396|pmid=26492091 |pmc=4619618 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1041396T |doi-access=free }} This species may also be threatened by pollution; sharks in the northwest Atlantic have been found to accumulate high amounts of mercury.{{cite journal|last1=Gelsleichter|first1=J|last2=Sparkman|first2=G|last3=Howey|first3=L. A.|last4=Brooks|first4=E. J.|last5=Shipley|first5=O. N.|year=2020|title=Elevated accumulation of the toxic metal mercury in the Critically Endangered oceanic whitetip shark Carcharhinus longimanus from the northwestern Atlantic Ocean|journal=Endangered Species Research|volume=43|pages=267–279|doi=10.3354/esr01068|s2cid=226474540|doi-access=free}}

As of 2019, the IUCN Red List list the oceanic whitetip shark as critically endangered, as their numbers appear to have decreased in every ocean region they inhabit. While their total global population is unknown, they are estimated to have declined by around 98 percent "with the highest probability of >80% reduction over three generation lengths (61.2 years)".

File:Oceanic whitetip shark @ Montebello Marine Park.jpg]]

In 1969, Lineaweaver and Backus wrote of the oceanic whitetip: "[it is] extraordinarily abundant, perhaps the most abundant large animal, large being over {{Convert|100|lbs|abbr=on}}, on the face of the earth".{{cite book|author1=Lineaweaver, Thomas H. III |author2=Backus, Richard H. |name-list-style=amp |title=The Natural History of Sharks|url=https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00line |url-access=registration |year=1969|publisher=Lippincott}} A study focusing on the northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, using a mix of data from US pelagic longline surveys from the mid-1950s and observations from the late 1990s, estimated a decline in numbers in this location of 99.3% over this period. However, changes in fishing practices and data collection methods complicate estimates.{{cite journal|author=Baum, J.K. |author2=Kehler, D. |author3=Myers, R.A. |name-list-style=amp |year=2005 |title=Robust estimates of decline for pelagic shark populations in the northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico |journal=Fisheries |volume=30 |pages=27–30 |citeseerx=10.1.1.417.3687 }} According to a January 2021 study in Nature which studied 31 species of sharks and rays including the oceanic whitetip, the number of these species found in open oceans had dropped by 71 per cent in around 50 years.{{cite web | last=Briggs | first=Helen | title=Extinction: 'Time is running out' to save sharks and rays | website=BBC News | date=28 January 2021 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55830732 | access-date=29 January 2021 | archive-date=28 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128211132/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55830732 | url-status=live }}{{cite news | last=Richardson | first=Holly | title=Shark, ray populations have declined by 'alarming' 70 per cent since 1970s, study finds | website=ABC News | publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=27 January 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-28/alarming-70pc-decline-in-shark-and-ray-numbers-study-says/13096442 | access-date=29 January 2021 | archive-date=29 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129080108/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-28/alarming-70pc-decline-in-shark-and-ray-numbers-study-says/13096442 | url-status=live }}

In March 2013, the oceanic whitetip was added to Appendix II of CITES, which means the species (including parts and derivatives) require CITES permits for international trade.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21741648 |title='Historic' day for shark protection |author=MCGrath, Matt |website=BBC News |date=11 March 2013 |access-date=27 July 2013 |archive-date=10 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610193508/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21741648 |url-status=live }} On 30 January 2018, NOAA Fisheries published a final rule to list the oceanic whitetip shark as a threatened species under the United States Endangered Species Act (ESA) (83 FR 4153).{{Cite web |url=http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/PRD/prd_oceanic_whitetip_shark.html |title=Home page of NOAA Fisheries Service – Pacific Islands Regional Office |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622032449/http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/PRD/prd_oceanic_whitetip_shark.html |archive-date=22 June 2018 |url-status=dead }} From 3 January 2013, the shark was fully protected in New Zealand territorial waters under the Wildlife Act 1953.{{cite web|url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-releases/2012/endangered-whitetip-sharks-to-be-protected/ |title=Endangered whitetip sharks to be protected |date=27 September 2012 |publisher=New Zealand Government |access-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915131054/https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/endangered-whitetip-sharks-be-protected |archive-date=15 September 2016 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2012/0356/latest/whole.html|title=Wildlife (Oceanic Whitetip Shark) Order 2012|publisher=New Zealand government gazette|date=6 December 2012|access-date=4 February 2015|archive-date=5 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205001305/http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2012/0356/latest/whole.html|url-status=live}} The New Zealand Department of Conservation has classified the oceanic whitetip shark as "Migrant" with the qualifier "Secure Overseas" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.{{Cite book|url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nztcs23entire.pdf|title=Conservation status of New Zealand chondrichthyans (chimaeras, sharks and rays), 2016|last1=Duffy|first1=Clinton A. J.|last2=Francis|first2=Malcolm|last3=Dunn|first3=M. R.|last4=Finucci|first4=Brit|last5=Ford|first5=Richard|last6=Hitchmough|first6=Rod|last7=Rolfe|first7=Jeremy|publisher=Department of Conservation|year=2018|isbn=9781988514628|location=Wellington, New Zealand|pages=9|oclc=1042901090|access-date=17 January 2019|archive-date=28 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128120736/https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nztcs23entire.pdf|url-status=live}}

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• {{cite web|url=http://www.longimanus.info |website=longimanus.info|title=Introducing an ongoing study of the Oceanic Whitetip Shark in the Red Sea}}
• [https://www.marinebio.org/species/oceanic-whitetip-sharks/carcharhinus-longimanus/ Oceanic Whitetip Shark Carcharhinus longimanus] at marinebio.org
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