Nurse Shark
Ginglymostoma cirratum
20.8481, -86.8759
Field Notes
Description:
Photo take at -40 ft in a Caribbean reef this beautiful shark came out of an hangover reef swimming very slow giving us a grate dive.Nurse sharks are nocturnal animals, spending the day in large inactive groups of up to 40 individuals. Hidden under submerged ledges or in crevices within the reef, the nurse sharks seem to prefer specific resting sites and will return to them each day after the night's hunting.
Habitat:
The nurse shark is a common inshore bottom-dwelling shark, found in tropical and subtropical waters on the continental and insular shelvesIt is frequently found at depths of one meter or less but may occur down to 75 m. Its common habitats are reefs, channels between mangrove islands and sand flats. It occurs in the Western Atlantic from Rhode Island down to southern Brazil; in the Eastern Atlantic from Cameroon to Gabon, in the Eastern Pacific from the southern Baja California to Peru; and around the islands of the Caribbean.
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