Slick-skinned ocean cruisers. Schools of 50+ at offshore bait balls and Red Sea liveaboard sites.
Silky sharks get their name from a smooth, fine-textured skin that catches light differently from rougher-skinned reef sharks. They're pelagic, ocean-going schoolers that rarely visit coastal reefs, but reliably appear at offshore seamounts and around bait aggregations.
Red Sea (Daedalus Reef, Elphinstone) is the Asia-region encounter setting, schools of 20–50 silkies join the oceanic whitetips at peak season. Cuba's Jardines de la Reina and Mexico's Socorro/Revillagigedo are the world's best dedicated silky sites.
Like most pelagic sharks, populations are collapsing under longline bycatch, IUCN Vulnerable, on CITES Appendix II since 2017. Dive sites with strict no-fishing protection are critical for the species.
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This species hasn't been logged at any of our partner sites yet, destination + season data will appear here once we've confirmed a reliable spot.
We're still curating destinations where this species can be reliably encountered. Check back soon, or chat with us for a custom itinerary.
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