Oceanic whitetip shark

The oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) is unmistakable: its huge, rounded, paddle-like pectoral and dorsal fins are tipped with white, marbled blotches. Even its scientific name refers to those "long hands". Growing to two to two and a half metres, it is a wanderer of the open ocean, usually cruising near the surface at an unhurried pace with a small escort of pilot fish riding ahead of its snout.

In the sparse world of open water, curiosity is the key to survival: the oceanic whitetip investigates every floating object, because anything might be food. That is why it approaches divers more closely than any reef shark – out of interest, not aggression. Meanwhile the species' fortunes have turned dramatic: once one of the most abundant large predators in the world's oceans, overfishing has driven it to critically endangered status, so every encounter is an exceptional gift – and in Egypt it is strictly protected.

Let us be honest: you will practically never meet it at Hurghada's daily dive sites – this shark is the autumn-winter star of the deep offshore reefs (the Brothers, Elphinstone, Daedalus), reached by liveaboard safari. Very rarely, mostly in autumn, a wandering individual may still appear in the blue water off Hurghada's outer reefs – Umm Gamar, Carless Reef. If that happens, follow your guide's instructions and stay with the group, and you will live through one of diving's greatest experiences.