Great Mysteries Beginning to be Unraveled

        Normally, a baby is born in a hospital.  That is common knowledge.  You have a baby, you go to the hospital to give birth.  Hundreds of species all over the world have regular birthing grounds that they travel to at least once a year to give birth to their new offspring.  But Great White Sharks aren’t like other species, if you haven’t already noticed.  And I am not just referring to their size, strength, or natural beauty.  I’m talking about the fact that to this day, no one knows where Great Whites give birth to their young.

 

       Somewhere in the deep blue sea, Great Whites travel and give birth to their young.  It is not even certain if they all travel to the same spot, give birth in groups or individually, or give birth at the same time each year. Despite all of the scientific research performed on Great Whites all over the world, their birthing rituals are a complete mystery!  However, there is some information that is known.  According to Unreal Dive (an infamous South African

diving tour that is very knowledgable in Great White Sharks),

“Little is known about great white shark behaviour in the way of mating habits. Birth has never been observed, but pregnant females havebeen examined. Great white sharks are ovoviviparous (eggs develop and hatch in the uterus, and continue to develop until birth)”

With these facts that scientists have, and the great amount of information acquired with each catch and release mission across the 7 seas, an end to this mystery seems so close, yet so very far.

       However, May of 2011 scientists caught and released the biggest male Great White caught on record.  Female Great Whites can grow up to 25 ft long.  There have even been bite marks found on whale carcasses that measure up to 27 ft!  But aside from measuring bite marks and determining sharks of such massive size, 17.9 ft. is the largest male shark caught to date!  (Obviously the scientists aren’t including Bruce from Jaws who lives in the “ocean” next to the Universal Studios tour.)  For me, thats over 3 times my size and completely unfathomable and unbelievable.  And this monstrous creature not only breaks records, but also can help assist in solving the birthing mystery of our Great White friends.

        The Great White that was caught and released in the article was caught in the waters off of the Guadalupe Islands of the coast of Mexico.  Although this is a very popular spot for Great White Sharks to wander during the fall and winter seasons when the water is very cold, it is rather unlikely that one would find a Great White swimming in this area during the warmer months of March through July, when the shark was found.  Because of this unlikely find, the specialists who found the shark think that it might be located there because it is traveling there to give birth, or recently gave birth.  Scientists have assumed that

“…recent research suggests that Pacific great whites gather in specific spots near the coasts—including the Guadalupe Island site—and then travel to a “cafe” in the middle of the ocean to feed. The animals often return to the same aggregation sites after feeding.”

If the sharks are coming and going in a predictable pattern, then hopefully more information can soon be found about where exactly the birthing process takes place.  Can you imagine if they actually filmed and documented a Great White laying its egg?!  That would lead to such a better understanding of the species. National Geographic believes that tagging the sharks in this area would not only lead to the end of a baffling shark mystery, but may also help scientists track and protect the endangered species from fisherman and hunters,

“Overall, tagging sharks to figure out where they migrate and congregate may help conservationists protect the species, Fischer added. Great whites are considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.”

By tracking the Great White Sharks in this area, there is a chance that sharks all over the world can be protected due to their newly assumed patterns of their birthing rituals.  So what does that mean? MORE SHARKS IN THE WATER!  And although that doesn’t seem like a good thing to all the spear fishermen and deep water swimmers, it is a great thing for all of the Shark-loving, fintastic friends all over the world!

           Let’s just hope that some new information can be deduced from these taggings off the coasts and that everyone out there Just Keeps Swimming!

Great White Teenager.

Trespassers Will be Shot, or Eaten…

“SHARK, SHARK!”

        Something that no swimmer wishes to hear while wading along the coast or surfing a swell.  Unfortunately, the ocean is the home of all sharks and assuming that one is not cruising the current near your swimming zone is just like assuming that you could walk along land and not see any humans.  Sharks are everywhere and hopefully, with the help of a lot of activists like myself, their numbers will begin to increase.  However, although the number of sharks in the sea continues to drop, while the number of humans at the beach rapidly rises, it should be no surprise that the number of shark attacks has inevitably increased, as well.  

        Many people blame shark attacks on wetsuits that resemble seals, shark’s ultimate thirst

for blood, clouded conditions, or even just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The truth? YOU ARE TRESPASSING!  I would never enjoy the luxuries of someone’s home while they are not around and then act surprised, angry, and resentful when they take out a baseball bat and clock me in the face with it.  So why are people still surprised that sharks attack humans when they are in the ocean?  

I personally think that people would rather pass the blame than take responsibility for that fact that the shark attack could have been prevented had they not been in the water in the first place.  But here are some hard facts for all the non believers.  According to an article written in Feb 2008 about the rise in attacks that year

“The number of worldwide shark attacks overall increased from 63 in 2006 to 71 in 2007, continuing a gradual upswing over the past four years”

        This rapid increase in a year is nothing compared to 2009, where 112 shark attacks occured!  Luckily, for both humans and the reputations of sharks, the number of fatalities has remained about the same with an average of 6-10 deaths a year.  However, with numbers skyrocketing as they are, you can only wonder whether you are safe in the ocean.  Ichthyologist George Burgess, director of the shark attack file maintained at the Florida Museum of Natural History explains humans level of safety and comfort in the water very clearly and simply,

“The reality is, going into the sea is a wilderness experience,” Burgess said. “You’re visiting a foreign environment — it’s not a situation where you’re guaranteed success.”

        Just as more people in the woods would result in more bear attacks, more people in the ocean =  more shark attacks.  However, rather than considering there being greater odds of getting attacked, remember that the odds are the same, but the population increase really makes the difference. Burgess continues to address this saying,

“Based on odds, you should have more attacks than the previous year,” Burgess said. “But the rate of attacks is not necessarily going up — population is rising and the interest in aquatic recreation grows. That will continue as population rises.”

 BUT this does not mean that you are doomed and if you swim in the ocean you will get attacked and will die.  I love the ocean and really enjoy long swims along the coast.  If I couldn’t optimize its array of uses, I would go crazy!  But there are a lot of ways to lower your chances of an attack.  Here are a few easy tips to follow:

       1. Do no swim in “Sharky” water.  Sharky – conditions at the beach that are common for shark attacks. Grey, murky water, cold weather and water temperatures, and bigger swells.

       2. Do not swim in areas that are used for fisheries.  The remnants left in the waters attract a great deal of sharks and when you are wading in fish waste, a shark cannot tell the difference between you and a little fishy.  

        3. “Surfers were the victims of slightly more than half of the incidents reported in 2010, nearly 51 percent of the cases. An economic downturn will usually influence tourists but not necessarily surfers, whose sport is relatively low-cost, Burgess said.” Surfers are much more likely to go out in conditions that are sharky, which makes a big difference in the likely hood of being attacked.

        4. Sharks are attracted to blood.  This is not an old wives tale or an urban legend.  Sharks have sensory organs that allow them to sniff out one drop of blood in an olympic sized swimming pool.  So if you are bleeding, I do not recommend diving in the deep.

         5. DO NOT SPEAR FISH.  I find this to be common knowledge that swimming around with a struggling, bleeding fish would attract some bad consequences – sharks.  This is one of the most dangerous water sports because of the dangerous predators attracted to what is dangling off the stick in your right hand.

     So there are some helpful tips!  Avoid all of these things and you are LESS likely to be attacked by a fintastic friend of mine.  However, as you can tell, jumping in the ocean is not completely safe because it is not YOUR ocean.  It is THEIR ocean.  So be safe, take care of their home that people around the world like to use for extended vacations, and just keep swimming.

Great White Teenager

Great White Scaredy Shark

         If you were to provoke a murderer, say, jump on his back for a few seconds while screaming hysterically, you would assume that he would throw you off and try to kill you, wouldn’t you?  As he squirmed to get loose from your grip you would see your life flash before your eyes thinking that it would all be over as soon as he was free.  If you physically jumped on a murderer, you would be a goner.

         So if sharks are “murderers”, “human-hunters”, and “cold-blooded killers” (as they are often called by ignorant people and hollywood movies), then why did a massive Great White Shark simply swim away after a surfer mistakenly stood on his back and had a three or four second ride of his life?

        On Monday, October 10th, surfer Doug Niblack paddled out for what he thought would be a great day of surfing in Seaside, Oregon.  As the waves grew bigger and the line-up grew smaller, Niblack paddled into a wave only to have his board hit something large and solid.  In an attempt to stand up on the hard surface in order to gain his footing before being pummeled by another wave, Niblack realized that he was not standing on a rock, a reef, or any other piece of land.  Rather, the young surfer was standing on a 10 – 12 ft Great White Shark!

Niblack recalls the initial realization of his new surf board to the Associated Press stating,

“It was pretty terrifying just seeing the shape emerge out of nothing and just being under me … And the fin coming out of the water. It was just like the movies.”

He continues to recall the experience saying,

“When I put my hands down on it, it felt rubbery like Neoprene, like a wetsuit,” he continued. “There was a moment there when everything was going on, I just kind of made my peace. I honestly thought I was going to die. Then paddling back in, I was praying the whole time. Like, ‘Don’t let it be following me.'”

Like many others would in this situation, Niblack assumed that his life would be over as soon as he hit the water because such a natural killer would not pass up the opportunity to take a bite out of the idiot now riding him instead of his surfboard.  But when Niblack landed back into the ocean, the shark immediately swam back out to sea, while he paddled for his life into the shore.  Why would a human hunting murderer let this kind of human behavior slide? There are two possible reasons that come to mind:

1. Sharks are afraid of humans

      I already know what you’re thinking – “Why would a 12 foot Great white with over 230 teeth be afraid of a measly land dweller?”  The answer is simple: humans, especially in the case of Doug Niblack, can imitate the only creature in the ocean that Great Whites DO fear.  The Orca.  Also known as the Killer Whale, the Orca uses tactics similar to those of Niblack’s accidental run-in (or should I say swim-in) to attack the Great White.  The Orca uses its tail to create a current that brings the shark to the surface.  Once at the surface, the Killer Whale performs what is called “The Karate Chop” on the shark as it hits the shark with its powerful tail right across the Great White’s back.  When Niblack landed on the sharks back as it rose to surface, the Great White Shark could have easily confused the surfers body with the tail of its greatest predator.  In that case, it is not surprising that the shark swam away rather than attacking.

Can you believe the size difference?!

2. Sharks are not murderers

        When Great White Sharks attack humans, they are doing so because they are hungry and in search for a large meal to fill them up.  Instead of considering sharks as killers, you may think of them as carnivores, similar to most humans.  If you came across a cow, you would not decide to kill it just for fun.  However, if you were starving and in desperate need for a meal, you might decide to sit down for a nice dinner in a green pasture.  (I do not condone eating any animal or fish, being a vegetarian.  Yet, I understand the basic need for food.  And if I can, you should be able to, as well.)

       As Niblack waded on the surface, his silloutte could have led the shark to use its ariel attack and hit Doug from below with such force that he would have been thrown from his board and his escape without a scratch would have been very unlikely.  However, Niblack was completely unaware of the sharks presence until his board hit the gentle giant swimming below the surface.  Had the shark wanted to attack Niblack, it most likely would have.  But it did not!  And I find this to be a great debunker of the theory that Great Whites attack humans and creatures even when they are not in need for a tasty meal.

       

     So if I were swimming along side Doug Niblack as he surfed a shark would I be scared? Are you kidding      me? I would need to purchase myself a new wetsuit after an experience like that!  However, as terrified as I  would be, I recognize the threat that humans play to sharks, not only in imitating whales, but also in the  hunting and slaughtering of millions of sharks throughout the years and I would use this knowledge to hide  away my fear and respect the Great sharks in their natural habitat.  Luckily for all of the shark supporters out  there, Niblack agrees and plans to not be overcome by fear and head back into the sea with a new respect for  the shark that “spared” his life.

 Thanks Doug! Hope lots of others follow your example and don’t hate my finned friends! (If I find out about anyone else as accepting as Doug, or if any of my readers know of someone who has survived an attack and does not blame the shark, shoot me a link in my comments section, I’ll be sure to mention them in one of my upcoming posts!)

 But for now, Just Keep Swimming,

Great White Teenager!