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| Great white shark picture, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
| The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) occurs naturally in all temperate marine waters. Usually between 9 and 12 feet long (3-4m), it can grow to 20 feet (6.5m) and weigh over two tons. The great white sharks depicted in these photos were encountered at Guadalupe Island, Mexico, although recent scientific evidence suggests that the Isla Guadalupe white sharks roam north through California waters and, perhaps, as far west as the Hawaiian Islands. Great white sharks are predators, probably the most feared in the world. They begin life feeding on all kinds of fishes, small rays and sharks, gradually taking on larger fat-rich blubbery marine mammals such as seals, sea lions and elephant seals. Much contemporary scientific study focuses on the shark -- pinniped relationship, however the importance of this interaction may be overstated simply because the study of white sharks near land-based pinniped rookeries is considerably easier than the study of other white shark predation modes. Known for their fearsome sudden attacks, great white sharks typically surprise their prey by rushing from below and grasping the victim with a powerful, large bite. If the bite is not fatal, the prey is usually left to weaken or die through blood loss (exsanguination), at which time the white shark returns to consume its prey. |
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| Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photograph of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
| Great white sharks occur naturally throughout California and northern Baja, although they are not common. In fact, they are a protected species in California. Scientific estimates suggest there are a few hundred adult white sharks roaming the state's coastal waters. Areas in central California where white shark feeding activities frequently occur include the Farallon Islands, Ano Nuevo Reserve (site of a large elephant seal population), the Northern Channel Islands and the Marin headlands. Evidence exists suggesting that gravid (pregnant) female white sharks travel to southern California to give birth -- it may be that these waters offer young white sharks better odds of survival. As the sharks grow their metabolism changes, biasing their dietary requirements toward calorie-rich fatty prey, causing them to travel to areas where they can feed upon marine mammals. |
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| Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photograph of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark picture, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
| Great white sharks, like other lamnid sharks such as the mako, are capable of regional endothermy. In other words, they are capable of maintaining an elevated body temperature in temperate (i.e., cold) waters, particularly in stomach and muscle tissue. The implications of this physiology upon the white shark's predation potential are significant. Due to its high metabolism and its oxygen-rich, relatively warm blood, the great white shark is capable of sustaining highly energetic activity and pursuing fast-moving prey (including open ocean fishes such as tunas and billfish) in an aggressive manner in temperate waters, all of which enables it to pursue and efficiently digest fat- and calorie-rich prey unattainable by other sharks. |
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| Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photograph of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
| In all these photos of great white sharks, note the delineation of dark dorsal and light ventral coloration -- a distinct edge separates the two areas, extending from just below the snout, above the mouth and past the pectoral fin, along the caudal stem to the caudal fin. This jagged edge has been observed to be essentially unique to each individual white shark and serves as a identification means for capture-recapture studies now occurring at Guadalupe Island. Recreational divers taking photographs of these sharks are contributing their images to an ongoing research effort to catalog individual white sharks along with the date of the animals' first sighting and any repeat sightings, allowing researchers to try to answer questions about whether or not white sharks return to certain locales repeatedly over time and, if so, why. |
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| Great white shark picture, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
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| Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photograph of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark picture, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
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| Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photograph of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
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| Great white shark picture, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
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| Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photograph of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
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| This shark bears a large scar just behind its right pectoral fin, which could be the result of entanglement in fishing gear or may be been acquired during a courtship or territorial dispute with another shark. Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe |
Photo of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
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| This shark is carrying a satellite transmitter ("tag"), attached at the base of its dorsal fin. Great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photo of a great white shark with identification tag below its dorsal fin, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Photograph of great white shark with three satellite transmitters below its dorsal fin, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
| These three sharks are carrying "tags" attached near the base of the dorsal fin. (19470 actually has three tags.) 19470 and 6118 bear "pop-up satellite" tags which travel with the shark for a period of months measuring water temperature, depth and light intensity. The tag is designed to release itself from the shark and float to the surface after a predetermined time, at which point it transmits its data to the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research (Oceanside, California, www.pier.org) via satellite and email. From the recovered data, researchers can estimate travel and position (lat/long can be inferred from light levels) and make some inferences about migration, swimming patterns and possible behavior. Data from past Pfleger tags placed on great white sharks at Guadalupe Island suggest that some great white sharks are travelling well offshore toward distant seamounts and perhaps Hawaii. 7739 carries a numbered plastic tag, uniquely identifying the shark and staying with the shark for many years. It is administered by Pelagic Shark Research Foundation (Santa Cruz, California, www.pelagic.org). If the shark is caught or washes ashore in the future, those who find the shark and discover the tag can communicate to the researchers where and when the shark was found and what its physical size or condition was, allowing researchers to place the shark at two (or more) places over a period of time. |
See also:
Guadalupe Island Photos Great White Shark Video Interested in Diving with Great White Sharks? |
| Keywords: great white shark photo, great, white, shark, photo, white pointer, Carcharodon carcharias, el gran blanco, tiburon blanco, Guadalupe Island, Isla Guadalupe, photography, photograph, underwater |
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