“Its tail swayed slowly from side to side, pushing the hunters bodythrough the murky water.
All signs of motion were non-existant, except for therhythmic movement of the water over the five gill slits on either side of itshead. Slowly gaining speed, the shady figures unmoving eyes fixed on itstarget, a lost harbor seal pup. As the distance between the predator and itsprey grew closer, the jaws of the massive fish drew forward, exposing nearlyeight rows of razor sharp teeth. Strings of its previous meal hung in rowsfrom between its teeth. Sensing danger, the harbor seal frantically tried tofind a place to seek refuge, but it was too late. The jaws of the shark closedaround the seal with an astounding 14,000 pounds of pressure, cutting the sealin half.
The Great White shark claims another victim. 1″Any one whos seen the famous movie series “Jaws” may look at the GreatWhite Shark in a similar manner. Perhaps its the way that Hollywood uses a mixof fact and fiction in the series. This may have frightened many people intohating the Great White for its ferocity.
It might have also been the size ofthe shark in the movie thats kept thousands of people off the beaches and outof the water. Better yet, it could have been the overall storyline: A GreatWhite shark with an eating disorder and a taste for human flesh. Perhaps thatswhat is keeping vacationers from grabbing their trousers and snorkels. Over all, there have been 1026 attacks on humans by sharks in the lastten years. Only 294 of these attacks have been linked to Great White sharks. Thats roughly the number of people who drown each year in swimming accidents.
Of these 294 attacks, less than eighteen percent were fatal. Out of theeighteen fatal incidents more than seventy percent was contributed to loss ofblood. This means that the shark didnt kill the victim. The shark bit thevictim and then released them (also known as the taste test). The shark samplesthe victim by nibbling on an appendage or two often resulting in a severedartery or other major blood vessel.
Therefore, the Great White should beconsidered a mantaster not a maneater. This intrigued scientists considering the size of the sharks brain. TheGreat Whites brain is about one half the size of a dogs. Over seventy percentof the brain is used for tracking prey. The other thirty percent is used forbody functions.
Studies show that the sharks main purpose is to eat. Peoplethink that the sharks main purpose is to kill. This is incorrect, sharks onlyeat when they are hungry. Impulses from the brain are sent to the jaws and thestomach telling the shark that it is time to hunt for food. “Why do sharks not follow a basic attack pattern on a human? In a humanattack, the primary strike is usually the only contact, as though the sharkfinds us(humans) to be unpalatable. There is a theory on this as well,involving the differences in our anatomy and the pinnipeds(seals, sea lions).
We are mostly muscle where the pinniped body has a great deal of fat. It istheorized that the shark somehow senses this and abandons us as a potential mealbecause our bodies are not as energy-rich as the pinnipeds. Of course, this isoften enough to kill us – or at least, really screw up our day!”Cold Hard FactsThe Great White shark has remained unchanged for 250 million years. Its greek name is Carcharodon carcharias. This is derived from carcharos meaning ragged and odon meaning tooth.
There isnt a defined size range for theGreat White but most experts agree that the length of the shark is usuallybetween 12 and 16 feet with the maximum figure being about19 to 21 feet. (The 21foot is an actual record from 1948. The largest ever recorded!) If the GreatWhite is that big try to imagine the size of those massive jaws and teeth, Notto mention the enoromous power behind those jaws. . These huge eating machinesused to be even bigger! The Great White was once known as Carcharodon megalodon.The only difference in between the Great White and this previous model is size.The Carcharodon megalodon was MASSIVE compared to the modern day Great White.Averaging forty to forty-five feet in length, it is theorized that this
