2023 May
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Whitespotted bamboo sharks are not easy to find. Although they exist throughout most of southeast Asia, they are rarely seen. Maybe that’s because they are relatively scarce or maybe it’s because they rest during the daytime in deep crevices. What is known is that they can be found off Malapascua Island in the Philippines in the 10 to 20 metre range. However, one more assured location to find them is Kannoura Bay in eastern Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. From July round to the following March they are thought to reside offshore at depths of around 50 to 70 meters, coming into shallower water from April to July to mate. This mating aggregation of whitespotted bamboo sharks peaks every May and June. Norihiro Fukui, owner of a local dive centre, Oranku Divers, has even seen between 30 to 40 whitespotted bamboo sharks on a single dive there, although that was an exceptional dive. 

In May 2023 I dived Kannoura Bay in with Andy Murch of Big Fish Expeditions and Norihiro.

Norihiro believes the Kannoura Bay aggregations occur because the conditions in the bay are particularly conducive to mating and egg-laying for whitespotted bamboo sharks. They have no predators to worry about in the bay and egg-laying is easy with the bay’s moderate waves. The eggs are shaken by these gentle waves and there is moderate seawater circulation present, important as the fry need fresh seawater inside the eggs to grow. Typically, females deposit two egg capsules at a time with around 26 cases being laid each year, then the eggs hatch between 110 to 135 days later. 

Whitespotted bamboo sharks are small carpet sharks who are nocturnal reef-dwellers and very elongated and narrow in appearance, with lobed fins and rounded snouts. They are brown, with darker brown bands, their skin scattered with white and black spots and they feed on bony fishes and crustaceans. These sharks grow to between 83cm and 95cm metres long with a maximum reported age said to be about 25 years old.