Orectolobus wardi
Silhouette: Lankester Edwin Ray (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The northern wobbegong (Orectolobus wardi) is a carpet shark in the family Orectolobidae, found in the western Pacific Ocean around Australia, between latitudes 9° S to 26° S. It reaches a length of 63 cm. Northern wobbegongs are excellent aquarium sharks due to their small (30 inch) adult size. They can be successfully reared in 135 gallon aquaria, but sharks in general tend to do better in aquaria 180 gallons or more in volume.
List of sharks Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Orectolobus wardi". FishBase. may 2006 version. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cairns Aquarium | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Wobbegong sighting in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 22nd most-seen of the 24 sharks and rays we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Wobbegong in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April, June, September and November, the lowest months. That is one of Ningaloo Marine Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 50 mm in June.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Wobbegong sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Ningaloo Marine Park, in our data
Ningaloo Marine Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Northern Wobbegong sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Wobbegong is recorded against all the sharks and rays logged in Ningaloo Marine Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
