White Shark Research

A common misconception about white sharks is that they're mindless killing machines. Not so! Researchers in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary are finding that these predators have very specific feeding strategies and are cautious about what they'll approach. Check out our video to learn more! ‪#‎EarthIsBlue‬ ‪#‎Sharktober‬‬

Transcript

Ohh! Shark up!

My name's Scot Anderson and I've been studying the white sharks out here for over 25 years and

we're mainly doing a photo ID study but we've applied a lot of acoustic and satellite tags to these sharks.

I think the biggest misconception of people in their understanding of sharks is that people are seeing them as this sort of mindless killer.

But what we found through the research that we've done is that they're actually these incredibly complex animals. They are here on the coast to feed, but they have a very specific feeding strategy where they're at the bottom and they're looking up and they're very discerning in what they come for. A lot of times you just can't see them.

They're really cryptic. The coloration on their back and unless they're right there, you can't see them.

And they are, I mean they're super cautious.

You think of this giant predator - that they're just jumping in and out of the water.

They really are cautious. They like to know what they're getting into. Like, you'll see that they'll swim around the decoy a bunch of times before they usually come up.

We got one shark up. We had a couple at the decoy that we didn't see but will probably be on the camera.

So, it's a good day!