The Oceanic Whitetip is one of the most widespread sharks, ranging across entire oceans in tropical and subtropical waters. It is an oceanic-epipelagic shark, usually found far offshore in the open sea in waters 230 m deep, between about 30'°N and 35'°S in all oceans; it is normally found in surface waters, although it has been recorded to 1082 m (Weigmann 2016). It has occasionally been recorded inshore, but is more typically found offshore or around oceanic islands and areas with narrow continental shelves (Compagno et al. 2005, Last and Stevens 1994). Temperatures of waters in which it regularly occurs are 18 to 28'°C, with water above 20'°C preferred.The Oceanic Whitetip Shark attains a maximum size of 400 cm total length (TL) (Stevens 1984, Seki et al. 1998). Males mature at about 168 to 198 cm TL and females at 170 to 200 cm TL (Seki et al. 1998). This species is born at about 57 to 77 cm TL after a gestation period of about 10 to 12 months (Compagno et al. 2005), with 15 foetuses recorded from a female of 245 cm TL from the Red Sea (Gohar and Mazure 1964) and larger females appear to carry more young, although there may be regional variation (Bass et al. 1973). Development is viviparous and embryos have a yolk sac placenta that attaches to the uterine wall of the mother (Bigelow and Schroeder 1948). Seki et al. (1998) studied the age, growth and reproduction of the Oceanic Whitetip Shark in the north Pacific. Both male and female Oceanic Whitetip Sharks matured at 4 to 5 years of age. In the western North Pacific, the size and age at first maturity was 190-193.4 cm TL and 8-5-8.8 years for females and 172-194.4 cm TL and 6.8-8.9 years for males (Joung et al. 2016). Smith et al. (1998) investigated the intrinsic rebound potential of Pacific sharks and found that oceanic whitetips to be among a moderate rebound potential, because of their relatively fast growth and early maturation. The species is estimated from a lifetable model created based on the WCPFC stock assessment to have a generation length of 16.4 years (M. J. Juan Jordá unpubl. data - based on the WCPFC stock assessment).