Per Kohlstaedt

The White Shark, better known as The Great White Shark, is one of the top predators of the ocean and is essential to keeping the balance of marine life. It is the largest predatory fish in the sea and is “one of evolution’s greatest success stories” (The Ocean Portal Team, ocean.si.edu). This is made apparent by its body, near perfectly developed for hunting and killing. Despite this, White Sharks are probably one of the most misunderstood organisms in pop culture, often seen as vicious bloodthirsty predators who actively seek out and kill humans. In reality, White Sharks are better seen as humble marine rulers and populations controllers of the ocean.

As mentioned before, a White Shark’s body is developed and evolved for hunting other animals. It’s torpedo-like body allows it to reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour (50 kilometres per hour). It’s crescent tail is nearly equally lobed on top and on bottom, and is its main source of movement, supported by a keel on each side. Unlike most fish, the White Shark has a stiffer more isolated form of movement, akin to a tuna. Most of its body stays static as the tail does most of the work. Through eons of evolution (likely far longer than humans have existed), The White Shark has obtained 6 keen senses it uses for hunting, including extremely acute senses of smell, vision, and hearing. They can smell just a drop of blood in 10 billion drops of water, can sense tiny vibrations with their ears, along with the pull of gravity, and their eyes are highly developed, with one half of their eye adapted to day and the other half adapted to night. They also can taste and feel like humans can. Accompanied by these senses familiar to us humans, is a totally new sense they have called electroreception. This means they can sense electrical fields! Their snouts are filled with cells called Ampullae of Lorenzini that “can feel the power and direction of electrical currents.” (The Ocean Portal Team, ocean.si.edu) Scientists have discovered that thanks to this sense, sharks can navigate the open ocean using the magnetic fields of the earth as a sort of “map”.

White Sharks are also very intelligent. They must be, to outsmart their also intelligent prey such as dolphins, seals, sea lions and squids. In a research project titled Predatory Behavior of Great White Sharks, overseen by Dr. Neil Hammerschlag at Seal Island in False Bay, White Sharks were seen to station themselves at specific points that give themselves the best balance of capture rate, detection, and competition. Younger smaller sharks had more sporadic search patterns and a lower success rate, perhaps implying that these hunters learn with experience. A successful hunt for White Shark may go something like this: Swimming from below, camouflaged by it’s gray upper body against the rocks, a White Shark searches for prey. It uses the shadows of its prey cast from above to distinguish water from animal. Once it spots something of interest, it rushes towards its prey, maw open. This both stuns the animal, and allows the hunter to take a bite out of it. If the shark misses biting the animal, the animal can still be stunned or hurt by the force of the rush. This is where we see those iconic pictures of White Sharks majestically jumping out of the water from. While these attacks are effective, they leave the shark with considerable wounds from prey, like sea lions’ claws. White Sharks have been seen with cuts and gashes all over their body, especially on their face. While these sharks are commonly known to be lone vigilantes, White Sharks will actually hunt in packs, and share their spoils with fellow members.

While it’s likely we will never know what it’s truly like to be a White Shark or any other animal for that matter, we can still ponder on it, and draw conclusions about how they think differently. As mentioned before, sharks can sense electromagnetism, and they can use that sense to guide themselves through the open ocean. We can’t begin to imagine what having that sense is like, but we know it’s something they have. Considering a shark’s carnivorous nature, they must gain a lot of adrenaline and maybe even satisfaction from chasing down prey. One could argue we have this too, but likely not on the same level as a White Shark. Their brains are also wired to respond to certain things differently. A White Shark most likely puts a lot of importance on seeing shadows floating on the surface of water, considering those shadows could be potential prey. While White Sharks likely do flee from things when they are hurt, one has to wonder if fear is a lesser concern for them considering they have no natural predators, and therefore nothing to flee from. The only thing that actively preys on White Sharks is humans unfortunately. It’s not the best time to be a White Shark. Despite their protections from poachers and such, they are still sometimes preyed upon and their fins are extremely valuable for shark fin soup. The sensationalized depictions of them as human-hungry predators certainly don’t help either, instilling an us vs them mentality in us humans, especially if you’ve seen Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.

That mentality we have so deeply carved into us out of fear is rather unfortunate. White Sharks aren’t as dangerous as we are led to believe. There have even been a few brave divers who have swam with them unharmed. Hopefully we can leave our fearful images of sharks behind one day, because they are essential to the ocean as population controllers, and for keeping balance in the food chain.

Bibliography

Great White Shark

Ocean Portal Team – https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/great-white-shark

Great White Sharks ~ Marinebio Conservation Society

https://marinebio.org/species/great-white-sharks/carcharodon-carcharias/

Great White Predation – Shark Research & Conservation Program (src): University Of Miami

https://sharkresearch.rsmas.miami.edu/research/projects/great-white-predation/

Great White Shark Pictures – Carcharodon Carcharias Images

https://www.elasmodiver.com/Great%20White%20Shark%20Pictures.htm

Photo Sequence Of Great White Shark Hunting

https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/photo-sequence-great-white-shark-hunting