Occurrence of the whitetip reef shark Triaenodon obesus at the Kermadec Islands, Southwest Pacific Ocean

Four observations of what was probably a single vagrant adult female whitetip reef shark Triaenodon obesus were made at Raoul and Meyer Islands, Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, over a 12 month period in 2014/15. This is the most southerly occurrence of the whitetip reef shark and ambient winter temperatures were close to the assumed thermal minimum for the species. The closest potential source population occurs at Minerva Reefs, about 598 km northwest of Raoul Island.