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| Great white shark video, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Video of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark video, 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 seen here 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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| Underwater video of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark video, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Video 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. Guadalupe Island is one such place! |
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| Great white shark video, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Video of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark video, Carcharodon carcharias, 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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| Great white shark video, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Underwater video of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark underwater video, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
| In all these videos 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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| Underwater video of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark video, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
Great white shark video, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
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| Underwater video of great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico |
See also:
Guadalupe Island Photos Great White Shark Photos Interested in Diving with Great White Sharks? |
| Keywords: great white shark video, great, white, shark, video, white pointer, Carcharodon carcharias, el gran blanco, tiburon blanco, Guadalupe Island, Isla Guadalupe, photography, photograph, underwater |
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