Mystery skin disease affecting whitetip reef sharks in Malaysia could be being caused by rising sea temperatures

Rising sea temperatures may be to cause for a mysterious skin disease affecting Malaysian whitetip reef sharks.

The sharks, which get their name from the white tips on their fins, are often found resting in schools on reefs during the day and are a popular diving attraction.

At night, they come out to hunt for little fish and other creatures.

Pictures of one of the sharks with what appeared to be spots and lesions on its head went viral on social media in April after being taken by an underwater photographer off Sabah state on Borneo island.

Soon after, divers at Sipadan island, a famed diving destination nearby, and a team of experts from the state's university and government and conservation groups began seeing the skin disease in every group of sharks they encountered.

Attempting to diagnose what could be causing the illness, the team found the sea surface temperature at Sipadan had risen to 29.5C (85.1F) in May, a degree higher than in 1985.

Also Read: Lobster diver feared he would die after getting caught in humpback whale's mouth

"We can almost certainly pin the warming ocean as having a role in what we are seeing with the sickly sharks in Sipadan," said Davies Austin Spiji, a senior marine biologist with conservation group Reef Guardian.

According to Dr Mohamed Shariff Mohamed Din, an aquatic veterinary sciences professor at Universiti Putra Malaysia, the sightings match with reports of coral bleaching in the area.

"We can't deny that changes are occurring there as a result of rising temperatures," he stated.