0:00:02 > 0:00:06My name's Steve Backshall. Self-confessed shark-obsessed.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08This is Shark Bites.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13This time we meet a night-time ninja...
0:00:15 > 0:00:17..the whitetip reef shark.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Named for the distinctive white tips to its fins,
0:00:19 > 0:00:23this is the Jekyll and Hyde of the shark world.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28They have a cool and calm character by day,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31cruising around coral reefs...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33..or lazing on the sandy seabed.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37But after dark, they turn...
0:00:38 > 0:00:41..into highly honed hunters...
0:00:41 > 0:00:45..setting their sights on prey that take cover deep within small
0:00:45 > 0:00:46coral caves.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52But how do these sharks fit where others can't?
0:00:52 > 0:00:55I got a closer look off the coast of Malaysian Borneo.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07Lots of lovely sharks around here, just resting on the bottom.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Although most sharks have to keep swimming...
0:01:13 > 0:01:19..just to breathe, quite a few, like this whitetip reef shark here...
0:01:21 > 0:01:25..can just sit on the bottom and pump water over their gills...
0:01:27 > 0:01:29..just resting from the stressful
0:01:29 > 0:01:31business of being a shark.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Because after dark is when they really come into their own.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43They use the cover of night to scour the reef,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47targeting prey like fish, crustaceans and octopus
0:01:47 > 0:01:49that are hiding in coral caves.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52And it's their perfect proportions
0:01:52 > 0:01:55and flexibility that make this possible.
0:01:57 > 0:01:58Compared to most sharks,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02the body of the whitetip is extremely elongated
0:02:02 > 0:02:07and seriously slimline. The first dorsal fin is set further
0:02:07 > 0:02:09back on the animal than on most sharks,
0:02:09 > 0:02:14and it's so flexible, it can fold completely flat.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17This dextrous design enables the shark to cram
0:02:17 > 0:02:21its entire body into cracks and crevices in the coral...
0:02:24 > 0:02:28..meaning they can specialise in small spaces inaccessible
0:02:28 > 0:02:30to their stockier competition...
0:02:32 > 0:02:36..and monopolise these hiding places in the reef.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46The whitetip shark.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48With its perfect probing proportions,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52cool and calm character by day and determined
0:02:52 > 0:02:58and deadly persona by night, this is truly a night-time ninja.