Sharks in Samoa

• Shark species recorded17 with solid records
• Protected sinceMarch 2018 (national shark sanctuary)
• Most seen from the beachBlacktip reef shark
• Signature encounterGrey reef and silvertip sharks in the Savai'i passes
• Incidents in the database10 since 1900 (2 fatal); 1 older, 1890
• Water temperature27–30 °C year-round

Why Samoa has so many sharks

Samoa's islands are the tops of shield volcanoes, and that shape decides where the sharks are. Upolu and Savai'i rise steeply from the ocean floor, so the fringing reef that surrounds them is narrow: a shallow lagoon a few hundred metres wide, a reef crest where the surf breaks, and then an outer slope that drops quickly into water thousands of metres deep. Reef sharks that would be spread across a wide shelf elsewhere are squeezed into this thin band, and the passes that cut through the reef, where the lagoon drains on the falling tide, concentrate fish, current and sharks in one place. Every village on Upolu's south coast has a pass and a name for the sharks that use it; in Samoan a shark is a malie, and the blacktip reef shark of the lagoons is the malie aloalo.

Beyond the reef the islands act as an oasis in a very empty ocean. Currents hitting the volcanic slopes push nutrients to the surface, and the deep water between Upolu and Savai'i, the Apolima Strait, and the seamounts of the wider Samoan chain gather tuna, flying fish and squid, which in turn draw the pelagic sharks: silkies, oceanic whitetips, blue sharks, makos and the occasional whale shark. Samoa's exclusive economic zone is about 120,000 km², more than forty times the land area, and almost all of it is this kind of deep, blue, shark-friendly water.

The final factor is law and custom. Samoan villages have managed their own reef fisheries for centuries through the fono, the council of chiefs, and more than a hundred villages now run formal fish reserves under the national fisheries programme; sharks were never a staple food here. In March 2018 the government went further and declared the whole exclusive economic zone a shark sanctuary, banning the commercial catch, sale and export of sharks and rays. Reef shark numbers around the villages that enforce their reserves are visibly higher than around those that do not, and the sanctuary now gives the pelagic species the same protection offshore.

List of the different types of sharks in Samoa

The table covers every shark with a dependable record in Samoan waters, from the lagoon flats to the deep blue beyond the reef. Sizes are realistic adults, not the biggest ever caught. The risk column is about swimmers and snorkellers in and around the lagoons, not about divers or fishermen who put themselves next to a shark on purpose. Two names deserve a note: the lemon shark of Samoa is the Indo-Pacific sicklefin lemon shark, not the Atlantic species, and the nurse shark is the tawny nurse shark, a different animal from the Caribbean one.

Species	Adult size	Risk to swimmers	Where in Samoa & notes
Blacktip Reef SharkCarcharhinus melanopterus	1.2–1.6 m (4–5 ft)	Low	Every lagoon and reef flat, often in knee-deep waterThe malie aloalo, the shark of the beach fale. Shy; the rare bites are nips to the ankles of waders.
Whitetip Reef SharkTriaenodon obesus	1.2–1.6 m (4–5 ft)	Low	Caves and ledges on the outer reef; Palolo DeepSleeps under coral by day, hunts in the reef at night. Harmless to people.
Grey Reef SharkCarcharhinus amblyrhynchos	1.5–2.5 m (5–8 ft)	Moderate	Reef passes and drop-offs, especially Savai'i and AleipataThe signature shark of Samoan dives. Territorial toward divers who crowd it; not a swimmer's problem.
Silvertip SharkCarcharhinus albimarginatus	2–2.5 m (7–8 ft)	Moderate	Deep outer walls and passesBigger and bolder than the grey reef shark, with white-edged fins. Makes close passes on wall dives.
Tiger SharkGaleocerdo cuvier	3–4.5 m (10–15 ft)	High	Outer slopes; occasionally the passes and surf breaksSuspected in the 2025 Lalomanu surfing bite. The one species here with a serious record worldwide.
Sicklefin Lemon SharkNegaprion acutidens	2.2–3 m (7–10 ft)	Low	Sandy lagoons and mangrove edges; NamuaThe Indo-Pacific lemon shark. Slow and placid; juveniles nurse in the lagoon shallows.
Tawny Nurse SharkNebrius ferrugineus	2.5–3.2 m (8–10 ft)	Low	Reef caves and ledges by dayThe nurse shark of the Pacific, unrelated to the Caribbean one. Docile unless handled.
Blacktip SharkCarcharhinus limbatus	1.5–2 m (5–6.5 ft)	Moderate	Outer lagoon and reef slope, more offshore than its reef cousinChases schooling fish at speed and leaps clear of the water. Told from the blacktip reef shark by its plain anal fin.
Bull SharkCarcharhinus leucas	2.2–3.2 m (7–10.5 ft)	Moderate	Recorded but uncommon; deeper bays and river mouthsSamoa's steep islands have few estuaries, so bulls are scarce. Not confirmed in any Samoan incident.
Galapagos SharkCarcharhinus galapagensis	2.5–3 m (8–10 ft)	Moderate	Offshore banks and seamounts, deep outer slopesAn oceanic-island reef shark, confident around divers. Older lists called it highly aggressive; it is not.
Silky SharkCarcharhinus falciformis	2–3 m (7–10 ft)	Moderate	Blue water beyond the reef; Apolima StraitFollows tuna schools and boats. The main shark bycatch of the Pacific longline fleets.
Oceanic Whitetip SharkCarcharhinus longimanus	2–3 m (7–10 ft)	High	Open ocean well offshoreAn open-ocean shark that will approach anything floating. A risk to people adrift, never in the lagoons.
Blue SharkPrionace glauca	2–3 m (7–10 ft)	Low	Deep oceanic water, mostly in the cooler monthsTaken on longlines around the EEZ; rarely near the islands themselves.
Shortfin Mako SharkIsurus oxyrinchus	2.5–3.5 m (8–12 ft)	Moderate	Offshore with the tunaFast pelagic hunter known from the longline and game-fishing records. Offshore only.
Scalloped Hammerhead SharkSphyrna lewini	2.5–3.5 m (8–12 ft)	Low	Deep slopes and the Apolima Strait; occasionalSeen by divers and fishermen at depth. Critically endangered worldwide.
Pelagic Thresher SharkAlopias pelagicus	2.5–3.5 m (8–12 ft) incl. tail	Low	Open ocean; longline recordsStuns fish with its whip of a tail. Harmless and rarely seen from shore.
Whale SharkRhincodon typus	5–10 m (16–33 ft)	Low	Passing through the strait and along the north coast; occasionalFilter feeder, harmless. No tours exist in Samoa; sightings are chance encounters from boats.

The species people ask about most is the one that is not here. There is no record of a great white shark in Samoan waters; they are temperate animals that prefer 12–24 °C, and Samoa's sea never cools below about 27 °C. The bull shark is on the list but only just: it is recorded from the Samoan islands, yet with no large rivers or estuaries it is uncommon, and the claim on older versions of this page that the 2010 fisherman's chest wound “must have been a bull shark” is guesswork; the database records the species as unknown. Whale sharks do pass through, but there is no whale shark watching industry in Samoa and a sighting is luck rather than a booking.

Where to see sharks in Samoa

Samoa has a small dive industry, one centre in Apia and one on Savai'i, and most sharks are seen by snorkellers from the beach or by divers on the outer reef. These are the places with the most reliable sightings.

• Palolo Deep Marine Reserve, ApiaA protected hole in the reef a short swim from the capital's waterfront, dropping from 3 m to 30 m. Blacktip and whitetip reef sharks around the rim, and the easiest shark sighting in the country for a snorkeller.
• Aleipata Islands and Lalomanu, south-east UpoluNu'utele and Nu'ulua islets off the famous Lalomanu beach, inside a marine protected area. Grey reef sharks and silvertips on the outer walls, blacktips in the lagoon, and the Aga Reef surf break where the November 2025 bite happened.
• Savai'i south coast: Salelologa to Satupa'iteaThe base of Savai'i's dive centre, with wall dives and swim-throughs into the deep. Grey reef sharks in numbers on the passes, whitetips in the caves, and tiger sharks reported by fishermen off the drop-off.
• Apolima Strait and ManonoThe deep channel between Upolu and Savai'i, where a copra schooner wrecked in 1914 and a survivor was bitten. Today it is where boat crews see silky sharks and, occasionally, hammerheads and whale sharks in the current.
• Namua Island, UpoluA small island with a beach fale and a reef flat that sharks use at high tide. Blacktip reef sharks and juvenile lemon sharks in knee-deep water at dawn and dusk.
• Fagaloa Bay, north-east UpoluA steep-sided bay where the reef is almost absent and deep water comes close to the villages. Grey reef sharks and the occasional pelagic species, best seen from a kayak or boat in calm weather.
• Salamumu and Coconuts, south coast surf breaksReef-pass surf breaks that are also shark highways on the falling tide. Surfers regularly see blacktips and grey reef sharks in the line-up, and reef-pass breaks like these are where Samoa's surfing incidents come from.

If you want a guaranteed shark and you are not a diver, Palolo Deep or Namua at high tide will give you blacktips within an hour. Divers should head to Savai'i, where the passes hold the grey reef and silvertip sharks that are the country's signature encounter.

Best time of year to see sharks in Samoa

Samoa sits 14 degrees south of the equator and the sea temperature hardly moves, so the seasons are about wind, rain and swell rather than warmth.

• May to October (dry season): south-east trade winds, less rain, the calmest lagoons and the best visibility on the outer reef, often 30 m or more. This is the diving season on Savai'i and the time to see grey reef and silvertip sharks in the passes. Swells from the Southern Ocean bring the biggest surf to the south coast from May to September.
• November to April (wet season): hotter, wetter and humid, with the cyclone season running through the same months. Rivers push sediment into the lagoons after storms and visibility drops, but the pelagic sharks are closer to the islands, and the north-coast surf breaks come alive.
• Tiger sharks: present year-round on the outer slopes; the 2025 Lalomanu bite happened in November and the 2023 Lano death in August, so there is no safe season to assume they are absent.
• Whale sharks: occasional, with most reports from the wet season when plankton is thickest in the strait and along the north coast.

Surface water stays between 27 and 30 °C in every month, which is why Samoa keeps its reef sharks all year and why cold-water species such as the great white never arrive.

Shark attacks in Samoa: what the record actually shows

Samoa's list is short, but it is more recent than most people expect. SharkSider records every case on the shark attacks in Samoa page. The database holds 10 records dated 1900 or later, two of them fatal, plus one from 1890, when a bather in Apia Harbour lost both legs. The cannery-harbour deaths at Pago Pago in the 1950s belong to American Samoa, a separate territory, and are not counted here. These are the six most recent records (the full list, updated weekly, is on the attacks page):

• 2025 · Aga Reef Resort LalomanuSurfing — Lacerations to right legSpecies: Suspected Tiger shark · not fatal
• 2023 · Lano, Savai'i islandTowing a dead whale out to sea — FatalSpecies not identified · fatal
• 2018 · UpoloSurf skiing — No injury, tail of surf ski bitten offSpecies not identified · not fatal
• 2017 · Nofoali’i, Upolu IslandFishing — Injuries to hands and legsSpecies not identified · not fatal
• 2010Fishing — Serious wounds to chestSpecies not identified · not fatal
• 1958 · North of Northeast Samoa, South Pacific OceanPlaced hand in disemboweled shark’s jaws — Hand lacerated provoked incidentSpecies not identified · not fatal

The pattern is unusually clear. Fishermen dominate the record. The 1939 death was a man fishing; the 2010 case was a fisherman with serious chest wounds; the 2017 incident at Nofoali'i on Upolu's north coast injured a fisherman's hands and legs; the 1958 injury was a man who put his hand into the jaws of a shark he had just gutted; and the August 2023 death off Lano, Savai'i, was a man who had gone out to tow a dead whale away from the shore, an act that put him in the water beside the single strongest shark attractant in the ocean. Blood, struggling fish and a carcass explain almost the whole list.

The second group is surfers. A surf-skier off Upolu in October 2018 had the tail of the ski bitten off and was not hurt, and in November 2025 a surfer at Aga Reef off Lalomanu suffered lacerations to the right leg from what was thought to be a tiger shark. Reef passes are where sharks hunt on the falling tide and where the waves are, so the overlap is not surprising. What is missing from the record is any modern injury to a swimmer or snorkeller in a Samoan lagoon; the only bather cases are the 1890 Apia Harbour attack and the 1913 leg lost in the same harbour, both from an era when the harbour was full of ship and fish waste.

The tiger shark is the species that matters here, as it is across the tropical Pacific. The standard advice covers the Samoan risks precisely: do not fish or spearfish with catch tied to your body, stay out of the water near a dead animal or a fish-cleaning site, surf the passes with company and not at dusk, and if a large shark shows interest, leave the water calmly along the reef rather than paddling out into the channel.

Is it safe to swim and snorkel with sharks in Samoa?

In the lagoons, yes, and the sharks are part of the pleasure. The blacktip reef shark you will see from your beach fale at high tide is nervous of people and will turn away the moment you move towards it; the whitetip reef sharks resting under coral heads at Palolo Deep will let you hover above them. Juvenile sicklefin lemon sharks use the sandy flats as a nursery and are slow, yellowish and harmless. The lagoon hazards worth more attention are the reef itself on a low tide, strong outflow through the passes as the tide drops, and stonefish in the rubble.

Divers on the outer reef meet the grey reef shark and the silvertip, both of which are confident and will come close. Neither is “highly aggressive”, whatever older lists claimed; a grey reef shark that hunches its back and drops its pectoral fins is asking for space, and the right response is to back off slowly along the reef, keeping it in view. Silvertips will make repeated close passes on a wall dive and lose interest when they realise you are not food. The Galapagos shark of the offshore banks behaves the same way.

Whale sharks are harmless and if one turns up beside your boat in the strait you can slip in quietly and swim alongside at a few metres' distance. Oceanic whitetips and silky sharks are open-water animals that follow boats; they are the reason to stay close to the vessel on a blue-water dive and not to drift far from the group. Tiger sharks are seen on the deep slopes and, very rarely, in the passes; treat any sighting as the end of the session.

Shark conservation in Samoa

Samoa's shark sanctuary, declared in March 2018, made the country one of a growing group of Pacific island nations, alongside Palau, the Marshall Islands, the Cook Islands and French Polynesia, to close its entire exclusive economic zone to commercial shark fishing. The law prohibits the targeting, retention, sale and export of all sharks and rays, and sits on top of an earlier sanctuary for whales, dolphins and turtles from 2003 and the Fisheries Management Act of 2016. Inshore, the village fish reserves managed by the fono under the community fisheries programme give reef sharks refuges around more than a hundred villages, and the Aleipata and Safata marine protected areas on Upolu add formal no-take zones.

The pressure comes mainly from outside. Samoa's own longline fleet is small, but the waters around the islands are fished by foreign tuna longliners and purse seiners, and sharks, especially silkies, oceanic whitetips and blue sharks, die as bycatch on those lines whether or not they are landed. Oceanic whitetips in the western and central Pacific have declined by more than 90% over three generations, and enforcement across 120,000 km² of ocean with a handful of patrol vessels is hard. Coral bleaching, cyclones such as Evan in 2012 and Gita in 2018, and the 2009 tsunami that struck the Aleipata coast have all damaged the reef habitat the inshore sharks depend on.

The response has been practical. Samoa's Ocean Strategy for 2020–2030 commits to protecting 30% of its waters and to a marine spatial plan that maps shark habitat, observer coverage on longliners is rising, and dive operators report shark sightings to the fisheries division. If you visit, choose operators that respect the village reserves, never buy shark jaws or fins sold as souvenirs, and read our page on why sharks are endangered for the wider Pacific picture.

Sharks in neighbouring waters

Samoa shares its sharks with the rest of the tropical South Pacific. Tonga, to the south, adds humpback whale season to the same reef species; Fiji, to the west, has the region's most famous bull and tiger shark dive at Beqa Lagoon and a shark reserve of its own. The Cook Islands and French Polynesia, to the east, are both full shark sanctuaries with lemon shark and grey reef shark encounters that draw divers from around the world, while Vanuatu lies further west along the same island arc. Far to the south, New Zealand has the cold-water species, great whites included, that never reach Samoa. The rest of the Pacific, and every other country page, is on the sharks around the world index.

Written and reviewed by

SharkSider Editorial Team

A small team focused on researching sharks and making marine biology easy to understand. Every page is reviewed against current species records and the SharkSider attack database, and updated when new incidents or research appear.

Published January 25, 2023 · Last updated September 21, 2026 · Incident data from the SharkSider attack database (10 records for Samoa, 2 fatal).