Observations

News about sharks in Thailand and the situation on Phi Phi Islands are found at the bottom of this page.

I am very interested in shark observations from Thailand. Especially I keep an eye on the Blacktipped Reefsharks at Phi Phi, something I've been doing since 1989.
I would be happy to hear from you if you recently have been to Thailand and seen sharks. The sightings and observations from visitors on this website will be published here on the site, so that everyone can benefit from the up-to-date shark situation in Thailand. Blacktips from all the Phi Phi Islands will participate in Photo ID

Blue View Divers: Oktober 2013: Koh Bida Nork: 2 Leopard Sharks, Great Barrakuda, Common, Zebra-Dwarf and Spotfin Lionfishes, Giant Trevelley

Island Divers, July 2012, Koh Bida Nork: A leopard shark was seen by two divers.

Frederik Jurriaanse, December 2009, Koh Phi Phi: I saw a number of leopard sharks, lazily asleep on sandy spots, and 1 swimming in a very graceful manner.

Andy Barlow, UK writes: November 2007. On several dives off Koh Bida Nai we saw 3 leopard sharks, spent nearly 10 minutes with them, got some pics of us within 2m of one of them. Also an Eagle ray and 2 turtles. Amazing!!

Hans Brandt writes: Bida Nai Island, 22'nd of November 2005. During a dive trip two leopard sharks (their sizes are difficult to estimate but approx. 1,5 - 2 meters) passed by me, my friend Sak (local PP guy) and a friend from Switzerland. Sak had his UW-camera with him and got 2 shots of each shark. The sharks passed by within 5 meters of distance around 8-10 meters of depth.

Fiona Davies writes: April 2004. One mid-sized leopard shark was spotted in Hideaway Bay in the Similan Islands, resting on the bottom at about 30 metres.

Karin Koch Nielsen observed in the beginning of February 2004 two fine leopard sharks at Bida Islands, Phi Phi.

Michael og Dorthe Heeris: November 2003, Hin Phae, Koh Phi Phi Don. A nice adult Leopard Shark was resting on the bottom.

Hanne T. Bang and husband: Early January 2003. Phi Phi Islands. A 1,5 m Leopard Shark at 13 meters of water.

Fiona Davies: April 2004. A juvenille (1.2m) nurse shark was seen free swimming on a night dive in Princess Bay, Similan Islands, in 8 metres of water. She was probably out hunting, but she was very wary of the divers.

Fiona Davies: June 2004. During a dive at Chumphon Pinnacle (north west of Koh Tao) there were 3 or 4 large Grey Reef Sharks circling divers at around 30m, although they would not come closer than about 10 m away. They moved so quickly I was unable to get any good photographs.

Lizzie Crutchfield: December 2019, Maya Bay, Loh Samah Bay, Phi Phi Leh: Blacktipped reef sharks (around 5 in each location), quite small ones. - Just outside Maya Bay in the area you are still allowed to swim and Loh Samah Bay. - 29th December 2019. - Unfortunately we can't get the pictures off of the camera due to some tecnical issues with the SD-card.

Lars Bindholt: July 2019, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Another record year. I could identify 102 different blacktips. 62 individuals were sharks from previous years (two from 2006). 35 of the sharks were males. 2 sharks with fishing hooks in their mouths. There were young as well as adult and pregnant sharks. One morgning there were at least 27 sharks around me at the same time.

Line Mathiasen: February 2019. Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Lots of sharks at Long Beach this day. Probably Blacktips, aprox 15 sharks seen while snorkeling 45 minutes near a small rocky reef outside Long beach.
Thursday we were at a sailing trip to a place they called shark point, but it was not excatly the same as Long Beach. It was a small sand bottom we were put off just about a meter deep and here a small shark at about ca 30-40 cm, dared to show up among the bathing people before we left the place. I also saw an adult shark and two juveniles.

Lars Bindholt: July 2018, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Record many sharks this year. I could identify 79 different blacktips. 39 individuals we sharks from previous years (two from 2006). 19 of the sharks were males. 2 sharks with fishing hooks in their mouths. There were young as well as adult and pregnant sharks.

Lars Jensen: April 2018, Hin Phae: Saw up to 7 sharks at the time and saw sharks several times.

Antonia Benfiled: April 2018, Phi Phi Leh, Maya Bay:We saw black tipped reef sharks today (02 April 2018) while snorkeling in Maya Bay at Phi Phi Ley. They were at the left side shallow water about 80 meters from the beach. We saw 2 but another snorkeler said he saw more

Lars Bindholt: July 2017, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Again very good conditions. On one of the best days I broke my record and had 25 blacktips at the same time in crystal clear water. Unfortunately I lost most of my data when I lost my GoPro on Kled Kaew wreck. From my other camera I could identify 46 different blacktips. 30 individuals were sharks seen previously (several from 2006). 10 sharks were males. A couple of females had wounds and scratches from recent mating. There were very young as well as big adult sharks. Sharks on every snorkeldive.

Jesper Jacobsen, Sweden: April 2017, Hin Phae: Around 10 adult individuals, and one small one. It was cloudy, windy, and strong stream, so the sight were not the best.

Lars Bindholt: July 2016, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Fine weather and many quiet days made it easy to spot sharks this year. On one of the best days I succeeded in seeing 21 blacktips at the same time. All in all I could identify 69 different blacktips. 33 individuals were sharks seen previously (several from 2006). 21 sharks were males. Again one of the sharks had a fishing hook in her mouth. Several females had wounds and scratches from recent mating. There were very young as well as big adult sharks.

John Maligi Salomonsen: August 2015, Bamboo Island: I was out snorkeling 28-8-2015 at Bamboo Island. There I observed backtipped reefsharks and a barracuda. Unfortunately I did not get any photos, but great experience.

Lars Bindholt: July 2015, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Again this year there were too many days with realy big waves and zero visibilty which on those days made it impossible to spot any sharks. On the good days though I managed to see up to 12 sharks at a time. I could all together identify 46 different blacktips. 28 of these were sharks seen previous years (several from 2006). 15 of the sharks were males. Fortunately only one shark had a fishing hook in its mouth. Several females had fresh wounds from recent mating. Both very young and fully grown sharks were seen.

Holly: May 2015, Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Just last week I was snorkelling at Long Beach and observed a beautiful black tip shark about 4 ft long. The others who were snorkelling also saw some smaller sharks. It was thrilling. So graceful.

Paul Foster: February 2015, Maya Bay, Koh Phi Phi Leh. One blacktip. See this link

Ole and Gitte Herreborg: December 2014: Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Many blacktipped reefsharks. There were sharks on every single snorkel dive.

Arne Koch Nielsen: December 2014: Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Quite a few blacktips, up to 4 at the same time.

Lars Bindholt: July 2014, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: A lot of wind, huge waves and poor visibility 8 out of 14 days resultet in fewer sharks observed this time, but I saw max 8 sharks at the same time. At least 23 different sharks, at least 6 males. 22 sharks could be registered i PhotoID, 17 were sharks from previous years. Again some sharks were seen with hooks in their mouth.

René Keller: April 2014, Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: At least 10 blacktips were seen.

Anthony Martins: April 2014, Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: 27/4/2014. Hi there. I saw 2 Blacktips Sharks (although it may have being the same one 10 minutes apart) off Long Beach, Phi Phi. Just 2-3 meters below me swimming along the open sandy bottom between
the 2 reefs.

Geir and Katherine from Norway: February 2014, Long Beach, Phi Phi Dorn: Snorkling at Hin Phae we saw 2 blacktip reef sharks 12. february 2014, at 2 meters distance 11 o´clock at high tide, and size about 1,5 meters.

Arne Koch Nielsen: December 2013: Hin Phae and Long Beach, Phi Phi: Many blacktips. Up to 8 at the time.

Daniel van Dongen from Blue Guru Diving: November 2013: Koh Phra Thong: Two small blacktips were seen and photographed in the local bay.

Moskito Diving: October 2013: Phi Phi Leh and Koh Bida Nork: Several Blacktips was observed and photographed by divers from Moskito Diving, Phi Phi

Blue View Divers: Oktober 2013: Phi Phi Leh, Palong Bay. Hightlights: 50 + Black Tip Reef Sharks! A record for our Instructor in one dive! 1 Hawksbill Turtle and pod of dolphins on the surface! Bliss….

Daniel van Dongen: September 2013, Hin Phae, Phi Phi Leh, Koh Bida Nai, Koh Bida Nork: Daniel and divers from Moskito Diving has made a number of observations of blacktips. Look here.

Daniel van Dongen: August 2013, Hin Phae, Phi Phi Leh, Koh Bida Nai, Koh Bida Nork: Daniel and divers from Moskito Diving has made a number of observations of blacktips. See here.

Lars Bindholt: July 2013, Hin Phae and Long Beach: So great to see that the sharks were back. Why they were all gone last July remains a mystery. This time I saw up to 14 blacktips at the same time. Using photo-ID I identified so far 75 individuals of which 36 individuals were sharks seen earlier years. 39 sharks were not known to me. One shark had a rope around its head which had cut deep into the flesh of the shark. The population looks very healthy with both young sharks and pregnant females. Very good to see.

Arne Koch Nielsen: April 2013, Hin Phae and Long Beach: Many blacktips on every snorkeldive.

Tonia Sheriff. April 2013: I'm delighted to say after reading your report that we saw a 50cm baby black tip reef shark in Maya bay on Koh Phi Phi lay today. Let's hope the fishing diminishes and these beautiful creatures can proliferate

Huy Nguyen: December 2012, Long Beach. Koh Phi Phi Dorn: 6 blacktips ranging from 50 cm to 1 meter were cirkling around only 50 meters from the beach.

Lars Bindholt: July 2012, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Even though I spend 40 hours in the water from dawn to dusk over 12 days, I only saw one blacktip, which dissappeared so fast that I did not have time to get a photo for identification. The whole population of blacktips seems to have dissappeared. Asking around it looks like they have been fished out for the ever increasing demand for shark fins. It is very sad and something I have feared would happen for years.

Lars Bindholt og Lina Bindholt: July 2012, Koh Bida Nork: On a scuba dive we saw first 2 then 1 blacktip swim by in a hurry. They were approximately 1,2 m long.

Arne Koch Nielsen: November 2011, Hin Phae, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: The corals don't look too well but there are plenty of blacktips and lots of fish.

Lars Bindholt: June/July 2011, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Conditions this year were perfect. I saw sharks on every dive. Up to 13 at a time. Using photo-ID I identified no less than 69 individuals of which 17 were males. 40 individuals were sharks seen earlier years. 29 sharks were not known to me. 2 sharks had a fishing hook in the mouth and one shark had a line hanging from the belly. The population looks very healthy with newly born sharks and pregnant females.

Lars Bindholt: June/July 2010, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Many blacktips although the conditions this year with a lot of rain and poor visibility. Up to 6 at the same time. Using ph oto-ID I have identified 41 individuals of which 10 were males. 22 sharks was sharks seen earlier years. 19 sharks were not identified before. 23 sharks from last year were not seen again this year. 3 females had fresh bite marks from mating. I observed both pregnant females and juveniles. The population still looks good.

Bob Degener: January 2010: This week I have been diving off Ko Phi Phi Leh (divesite Palong) a few times. There are plenty of blacktips to spot at this site and on my last dive we saw a very unfortunate shark with a large piece of rope or fishing-net around its tail. Although the debris was quite a lot, It seemed that it didn't bother the shark very much at all.

Frederik Jurriaanse: December 2009, Off Long Beach I encountered a number of black tip sharks in quite shallow water. I am always amazed about their streamlined speed and their beautiful perfect bodies! I also saw a turtle slowly working its way up a reef wall.

Bob Degener, November 2009, Koh Phi Phi Dorn, Long Beach:: Early november 2009 I saw up to 2 big blacktip reefsharks on multiple occasions off Ko Phi Phi's Long Beach. Conditions were not very good (visibility was really bad). To make matters worse I only saw them in two feet of water so it was almost too shallow to swim. Maybe I picked the wrong time of the day (usually early afternoons).
They avoided deeper clearer water behind the rock so unfortunately I don't have (good) pictures.
They were definitely more shy than the blacktips you can encounter off Shark Beach (at Koh Tao).
I'm lucky enough to visit Thailand again in January so I'll try it again.

Lars Bindholt: July 2009, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: A lot of blacktipped reefsharks. One time more than 20 was circling me. I didn't have time to count them, but it was really nice. Using photo ID I registered 37 different individuals, 7 of which were males. 16 individuals is sharks from earlier years. 20 sharks from 2008 were not seen this year. 21 sharks were sharks not seen before. Again this year there were both mature pregnant females and small youngsters at 40-50 cm. The population still looks healthy.

Frederik Jurriaanse: Start April 2009, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Saw lots of blacktips snorkelling off Long Beach!

Lars Bindholt: July 2008, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Real many blacktipped reefsharks. Using photo-ID I could register 45 different individuals. Of these at least 7 were males. I saw more than 15 at the time in one occasion. I didn't have time to finish my counting. Sizes were from new born 40 cm to big adults at 1,6 m. One of the males had a fishing hook in his mouth. Two of the big females had fresh scars and bruises from recent maiting.

Arne Koch Nielsen says: March 2008, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Many blacktips on the snorkel dives. As many as 18 at the same time, big and small together. This is the most ever so far.

Dave Thomas, Southport England: Maya Bay February 2008
After a few stints of snorkelling off Long Beach with no sightings of sharks. By chance whilst at Maya Bay, a small Black Tipped Reef swam away from me. It was only about 1 metre in length, but for my first
sighting of a shark it was amazing.

Andy Barlow, UK writes: My partner and I visited Phi Phi in November 2007. We were told Long Beach was the best place to stay by a dive guide we meet on Phuket, if we wanted some amazing diving and snorkelling. He wasn't wrong. Here he said we could snorkell with black tips. After a few unsucessful attempts we went out one afternoon, about 100 metres from the beach and came across 5-6 black tips in water only 2-3 meters deep. Sharks from 0.5m to 1.5m We had more sucessful sightings over the next few days.

Lars Henrik Larsen, Århus writes: July 29, 2007, Sharks Point, Long Beach, Phi-Phi: At least 15 blacktips in very shallow water was circling us for several minutes before they took off again. We only saw the sharks this one time in spite of several trips to the corals in this area.

Lars Bindholt: July 2007, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Many blacktipped reef sharks. 23 different individuals could be identified by Photo ID. On top of that, there were also a couple of males. There were up to14 sharks at the same time. Big and small were seen, but the majority were small and by far the most were females. There were some windy days with murky and moving waters. During this period the sharks were not to be found.

Arne Koch Nielsen reports: April 2007, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Quite a few blacktips. We saw many on every snorkel dive no matter what time of day. We saw up to 11 individuals at a time. On the east side of Hin Phae, where it is a little deeper, we were able to follow the sharks a while, swimming among the corals.

Lars Bindholt: June-July 2006, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Many blacktipped reefsharks. Sharks on every snorkel dive. Up to 10 at a time and at least 25 different individuals (3 males and 22 females). There were small (0,5 m) and big (1,5 m) sharks. The sharks were not very shy, but lost interest in me vere quickly.

Lars Bindholt: June-July 2005, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Dorn: Many Blacktipped reefsharks on almost every snorkel dive. Up to 6 at a time and at least 12 different individuals. Had a great time following a small (0,5 m) female more than 30 minuttes on her way around the reef.

Arne Koch Nielsen: March 2005, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Don: On a week of daily snorkling we saw a lot of blacktips every time. At least 9 different individuals and up to 9 at a time. It seems as if the blacktips are doing really well.

Lars Bindholt: 4 - 9 July 2004, Hin Phae and Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Don: Blacktipped Reefshark every day. Up to 4 at a time and at least 8 different individuals. Males and females (a coupple of pregnant females) and some small juveniles.

23. April 2004 7.15 – 8.00 AM we ( 2 adults and 3 children of 6, 12 og 15 år) werw out snorkeling near Hin Phae, Phi Phi Island, and all of us saw sharks. We believe that we saw at least 5 different individuals and everybody had minimum 2 observations!

24. March 2004, Surin Islands. Lars Bindholt and Søren Sattrup saw at a single snorkel dive, 4 times blacktipped reefsharks. Certainly 2 different specimens, mayby 4.

Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi Don. February 2004. John and Karin Koch Nielsen saw blacktipped reefsharks on every snorkel dive. Many, at least 6 different.

Snorkeling at Koh Rok 17. jan 2004 aprox 2. p.m. a smaller blacktipped reefshark (1 m) passed me in the opposite direction, very fast and not looking at me at all. It looked very busy.

René Keller and Arne Koch Nielsen 19-23 December 2003 Thailand Koh Phi Phi Don: All blacktip reef shark observations are on the south side of the reef at Long Beach. We went snokeling many time each day but we only saw sharks early morning and just before sunset. It is my experience (4 holidays) that it is early morning the sharks are most currious and will come closer to you and are less shy. One morning I was all alone and lying very quiet in the water, I had the pleasure of having a single shark (size 1,5 m) very close, about 1 meter from me when it was closest. It circled me many times and I began to move my fins slightly to show it that I was alive. Then the current picked me up, and while drifting, the shark followed me close for 60 seconds before it dissappeared. Great experience! Next morning there were also plenty of sharks passing by. 40-50 observations of at least 7 different individuals. Probably more. I saw 6 big ones (1,3 - 1,6 m) at the same time and then a small one. PS: Be carefull in the, once in a while, heavy current.

Michael og Dorthe Heeris: November 2003. Hin Phae, Koh Phi Phi Don: Up to 8 sharks at the same time. The shark population seemed to be in good shape.

Lars Bindholt: 7-15 july 2003. Hin Phae og Haad Yaaw (Long Beach), Koh Phi Phi Don. Every day: Blacktipped Reefsharks. I was snorkeling and saw up to 9 sharks at the time. At least 12 different individuals. Mostly it was adult females but also a few males and one new born baby.

Hanne T. Bang and husband: Early January 2003. Phi Phi Islands. A small 30 cm Blacktipped Reefshark.

Arne Koch Nielsen: December 2002. Hin Phae, Koh Phi Phi Don. On every snorkel dive in more than e week in mid December did Arne observe Blacktipped Reefsharks. Big adults and small juveniles. At least 5 different individuals was seen. Probably more.

26.march, 2004 Surin Islands. Søren Sattrup and Lars Bindholt observed on a snorkel dive a big whitetipped reefshark (female), which was swimming slowly around above the corals at 6-7 meters of depth.

Mickey Duncan. May 2013: They started to appear at this dive site (Sail Rock) back in July last year, then they suddenly disappeared in November. No longer there, and no one has seen one since, that i am aware of. Not good news at all.

Mads Frese. January 2010: Some more news from Koh Tao. We are still seeing bull sharks every day at Chumphon Pinnacle, both grown-ups and juveniles, so it's super to see several generations. A good sign.
18.01.10 25 meter down. We dived aprox. 30 meters from the reef and 5 big beautiful bull sharks came and surrounded us. They followed us all the way up to 14 meters of depth. Fantastic dive. They came very close, about 1 meters distance between them and us. The sharks were about 3 meters plus. Big and beautifull.

Mads, Divemaster on Koh Tao.

Mads Frese November 2009: Hi. The whole of November 2009 there has almost every day been seen bull sharks at Chumporn, Koh Tao. They messure 2-3,5 meters in length and are mostly seen 2 and 4 together, so they are deffinitely back.

Sam Fysh writes June 2009: Unfortunatley I have some bad news to report. The bull sharks at Chumporn are rumoured to have been fished out. I dove with them several times in Oct-Nov 2007 and having studied some of the footage and compared it to reference material on the internet, I have no doubt that they were bull sharks. I had hoped that I would be able to see them again on a regular basis as I now live in Thailand, unfortunatley in April I headed down to Koh Tao and every single dive shop I went to said that there had been no sightings for over 6 months. These were the first sharks I had ever dived with after a life long obsession with sharks so its a real loss.

More than 40 whale shark observations at Sail Rock (Koh Phangan) during 2012 according to Sail Rock Diving Resort

In the 2002/2003 season the dive companies in Phuket have seen very few whale sharks probably because of the killings going on in India to supply the Chinese markets with shark meat and fins. Repports of whale shark sightings at Hin Daeng in July 2003

Frederik Jurriaanse: 21. march 2002, Hin Dot at the entrence to Don Sai Bay, Koh Phi Phi Don.
Frederik, who after the tsunami is the chairman of Phi Phi Aid, was lucky enough to dive with a 7 meter whale shark for no less than 66 minutes.

July 2018: No coral bleaching. Corals are growing good several places. Again speedboats was seen speeding through the opening beween the beach and Hin Phae. Both speedboats and longtails still throw anchors in the corals at Hin Phae and Loh Moodee every day. Fishlife looked good and I saw Kuhl's stingray, a few big groupers, barracudas, 3 species of morays.

July 2017: Almost no coral bleaching. A big net was sitting along the bottom between the corals stretcing 75 meters perpendicular to the beach. Again speedboats was seen speeding through the gaå beween the beach and Hin Phae. This year a line with buoys were put along the western side of Hin Phae, which kept speedboats and most longtails from speeding right through the snorkelers swimming in the shallows. A good idea. Both speedboats and longtails throw anchors in the corals at Hin Phae and Loh Moodee every day. Fishlife looked good and I saw eaglerays, Kuhl's stingray, a few big groupers, barracudas, copias, 4 species of morays.

July 2016: Quite some coral bleaching. I would say that 40 percent of the corals were affected. See photos. But many live corals could be seen as well, staghorns, bummies, fans and soft corals. Again there were barracudas at Long Beach (3 species), more than last year. I saw more groupers, bullhead grouper and other species. I saw eagle rays and stingrays and big cobias. Every day longtails and speedboats ran across the dive sites at Hin Phae and Long Beach putting snorkelers at great risk. Several longtail drivers tried to get me to get out of the way. Why do the idiots think I come to Phi Phi Island in the first place if it wasn´t for the sharks? The speedboats at Loh Moodee is still throwing anchors directly on top of the corals every day.

July 2015: Phi Phi: A little more of the bummies than in 2014 showed signs of bleaching but all in all the new corals from 2010 and later are still growing. Barracudas of 3 species was seen again along Long Beach but not as many as earlier. No big groupers. Every day 2 or 3 longtails could be seen trolling along Long Beach morning and evening catching fish. Even tried to prevent me from snorkeling there. The speed boats still throw their anchors down directly on the corals every day on the reef at Loh Moodee Bay.

July 2014: Phi Phi: A few bummie corals showed signs of bleaching but quite a lot small staghorns are still growing from 2010. between Long Beach and Loh Moodee Bay I found 2 big (1,5 m) table corals in good condition. At Long Baech I observed the first small table corals (ca. 25 cm). The many barracudas from 2013 were gone. No yellowtail barracudas at all. I only observed 1 single specimen of great barracuda, chevron barracuda and pickhandle barracuda. The fish life is otherwise good but the lack of groupers is conspicuous. Several times in the early morning a speedboat was parked at Long Beach and a thai armed with a harpoon gun was shooting fish around Hin Phae. There are still people fishing with rod and line after longtails at Long beach. On the west coast of Phi Phi many small staghorn are establishing themselves but the speedboats are still throwing their anchors directly down in the corals. I observed how a longtail driver, when the anchor grapped a new staghorn collony (25 cm). The driver ripped off the coral and it went all the way into his boat.

December 2013: Phi Phi: 2 staff members from The Beach Resort was seen fishing using a long line running parallel to Long Beach in all its length with many baited hooks. The hooks about 5 cm long. A completely unacceptable behaviour as this is something the sharks will go for. Action was taken from here informing several dive centers and Shark Guardian. Adventure Club from Phi Phi reacted very fast and tried to find the offenders.

July 2013: Phi Phi: The blacktips are back again. The new corals are growing and establishing themselves several places. Staghorn colonies now about 15 cm in diameter. No signs of bleaching. More than once I observed thai spear fishermen with harpoons fishing at Hin Phae. One time from a long tail and 2 times from a speed boat. They shot barracuda and travally. The fishing of blacktips continue as Daniel van Dongen observerved and photographed many baby blacktips on display at the Phi Phi fishmarked in Ton Sai Village. The local speed boat drivers apparently know nothing about conservation. They throw on a daily basis their anchors directly down on top of the very same corals the tourists pay to enjoy. Check video from July.

July 2012: Phi Phi:The blacktipped reefsharks at Long Beach was not there in July. Are they fished up. All shark species in the area have declined in numbers. There are still lots of other fishes at Long Beach but the groupers have gone very shy and the barracudas have gone down in numbers due to the now very common practice of spearfishing by local Thais. Many places small new colonies of staghorn coral and other species of coral are establishing themselves again after the 2010 bleaching. No new bleaching is observed.

July 2011: Phi Phi:All table corals died last year and 95 % of the staghorns. Some bummies are still alive. Maybe 50 %. You can find survived staghorns on a few spots. Small new live corals can be seen quite a few places. It looks like many of the blaeched anemonies and clams have survived. No coral bleaching this year.

Lots of construction is still going on on Long Beach and the rest of Phi Phi Dorn affecting what is left of the natural flora and fauna.

May-June-July 2010: Massive coral bleaching around Phuket and Phi Phi and other places in The Andaman Sea due to very hot weather in May. At Phi Phi at least 80% of the corals are dead.

January 2010: The bull sharks at Chumporn Pinnackle are back after 6 months of no sightings.

2006: The Beach Resort on Long Beach, Phi Phi is neglecting the fact that Phi Phi is a national park. It has made the eastern end of Long Beach into a building site and totally stripped the hill side so that the barren earth is exposed for erosion. On top of that they have build, using rocks from the hill side, a small harbour in the narrow strait between Hin Phae and the island. This having an impact on watercirculation and silt from the hill choking the corals.

2006: Phi Phi:Unfortunately the staff on the resorts on Long Beach are still catching baby blacktips. In July they just caught two for eating. Let us all make them understand, that this is a very bad idea.