The S Word
There have been four shark attacks in the Pacific in the past couple of months. Eeeeeks! The first deadly attack was in Solano Beach, California, the next three in Mexico, leaving two dead and one wounded. Needless to say, paddling out this morning was a bit more daunting than usual. Especially because I picked up the OC Register this morning to read that a great white was seen yesterday off Doheny State Beach (a nearby surf spot).
Just so happens this month’s Smithsonian Magazine has a feature about how intelligent the deadly creatures are. Some interesting highlights..
There have been 236 great white shark attacks on humans recorded since 1876. About one-third have taken place in California waters.
Perhaps the largest great white shark ever caught was off Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea, in 1987. It was reported to be 23 feet long and weigh 5,000 pounds. (Many scientists are skeptical and put the maximum length for a great white at closer to 21 feet.) A sea turtle, a blue shark and a dolphin, and a bag full of garbage were found in the giant’s innards.
No one has seen great white sharks mate. In some shark species, the strongest fetuses eat their weaker brothers and sisters in the womb; no one knows whether great whites do so.
One shark enthusiast recalled “When I’m on the boat, they’ll pop their heads out of the water and look me directly in the eye”… “Once, when there were several people on the boat, the great white looked each person in the eye, one by one, checking us out.”
The article even evokes some sympathy for the creatures..
Great white sharks’ numbers have plummeted; along the U.S. Atlantic coast, for instance, the population has declined by more than 75 percent in the past two decades. The main culprits are commercial nets, fin hunters, and jaw and tooth hunter. Though catching a shark is no great feat - they are one of the easiest fish to catch.
A jaw with all its teeth can fetch $25,000 on the black market in the U.S., and a single tooth can cost $500.
Hunters usually cut off the dorsal and pectoral fins (to sell for shark fin soup) and toss the body back in the water. Unable to swim, the shark can’t pass oxygen-rich water through its gills and drowns.
Great Whites migrate between oceans. One tagged shark was found 6,800 miles away from where it was tagged. But great whites from California and Hawaii do not mingle with those from South Africa and Australia. No one knows why. This could pose a problem for conservation efforts: if one population shrinks, it cannot be replenished from the other side of the ocean.
Poor guys. And though great whites don’t seem to think of humans as prey, I never want to be close enough for one of them to look me in the eye.
