Abstract Despite being a common reef shark species, the distribution and habitat use of blacktip reef sharks ( Carcharhinus melanopterus ) remain poorly understood within Malaysia’s marine parks. This study used baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) and drone transect surveys conducted from April to October 2023 across shoreline, mid-reef, and forereef zones at Chagar Hutang Bay (CHB), Redang Island, to quantify spatiotemporal shark relative abundance across life stages, evaluate habitat associations across reef zones, and identify key environmental predictors of shark detections using multivariate modeling. Substrate composition and structural complexity were estimated from BRUVS footage to characterize variation in habitat structure and relief. Both BRUVS and drone surveys recorded significantly higher juvenile shark detections in shallow shoreline habitats ( p < 0.001), with no detections in the deeper forereef zone. BRUVS recorded significantly more adult sharks at the forereef ( p = 0.004), whereas drone transects recorded more adults at the shoreline ( p = 0.006). Adult shark detections varied significantly by month in BRUVS surveys ( p = 0.007), while juvenile detections peaked in June across both methods. Shallow shoreline habitats of CHB likely function as nursery areas for juvenile blacktip reef sharks, whereas adults preferentially use deeper, more structurally complex reef zones. This study provides a baseline assessment of relative blacktip reef shark abundance and habitat use within a Malaysian marine park system and supports the ecological relevance of CHB, a recently designated Important Shark and Ray Area, emphasizing the need for continued long-term monitoring to assess seasonal influences on nursery habitat use.
Tolen et al. (Mon,) studied this question.