The Hawaiian reef system (which is considerably younger than the 12 million year old Hawaiian islands) supports a substantial white tip shark population. Indeed, if you know where to look, you can literally find them everywhere...

During the day, many of these sharks assume a restful pose. Usually, you will find them on the bottom in caverns, caves, hollows, lava tubes, and pukas (but also on occasion swimming about the open reef).

Night is when many of these sharks come into their own: Very often you will see them hunting the sleeping reef's dozing fish, as well as seeking out other night-active fish, eels and large crustaceans.

While this shark has rarely --IF EVER-- been associated with attacks on humans in Hawaii, or elsewhere, EVERY shark should obviously be respected. This species, like some others, will display an arched back, pectoral fins down aspect when cornered or threatened. If you --the diver or dive photographer-- are careful, however, you can get very close to them without threatening them or their "space" (although it is fair to say that any close encounter involving flashing strobe lights and closely peering divers is probably unsettling to the sharks, and thus should be minimized).

The photos below come from many years of observation under water in Hawaii...and I am pleased to say that only on a few occasions (almost all at the beginning of my u/w photography efforts) have I been stupid/careless enough to elicit their 'threatened' posture behavior...