Malapascua Island of the Philippine Islands is the location of near guaranteed thresher shark encounters at a dive site called Monad Shoal. This shoal is also a 'cleaning station' where the sharks aggregate to have parasites removed by cleaner wrasse. At a depth of 70-90 feet this sloping wall is an ideal location to photo and video these amazing sharks.
Pelagic threshers, Alopias Pelagicus are the smallest of the three thresher shark species and grow to a respectable 10 feet in length. They hunt by circling schools of fish and whipping their long long powerful tails at their prey stunning them long enough to gobble them up afterwards. Threshers spend much of their time in deep waters of up 800 feet deep. Their large black eye are adept at living in these low light conditions. Studies on the thresher are in progress and much is being learned about their migratory and living behaviors.
© Mike Gerken: Evolution Underwater Imaging
