Photo 1: Thresher shark alopias pelagicus close by.

When Neil was diving at Sinandigan wall Wednesday morning he suddenly saw the very characteristic tail of the Thresher shark and when it turned its side towards him… he knew the thresher shark is back in Puerto Galera.

The thresher shark or Alopias pelagicus is a type of mackerel shark or Lamniformes. In Danish it’s called rævehaj and in German it is known as Der Gemeine Fuchshai. The threshers grow up to a length of 5-6 meters, about half of which is the huge scythe-like tail for which it is named.

Thresher sharks normally live in deep water and are nocturnal (night creatures), so are not often seen by divers. Although they are seen occasionally in other locations around the world, the only known place to see them regularly is at Monad shoal by Malapascua (in the Visayas area).

They have very small, sharp teeth and very big eyes to see in the dark. They feed on squid and schooling fish such as herring and mackerel and it is thought that they use their tails to "corral" the fish into denser schools. The tail may also be used to stun the fish.

Thresher sharks are one of the few shark species known to jump fully out of the water making turns like dolphins, this behavior is called “breaching”.

Sadly, like most other shark species, the number of thresher sharks in the world is declining due to over fishing for their fins and meat.

Thresher shark jumping out for the water.