Great White ?s

[billyfrank]

WE have just had a fatal great white attack here on the Central Coast(Avila Beach). Since then there have been numerous sitings of Great whites and the beaches are even closed until Wed.
I have always been interested in all sharks in general and since the attack and sitings my curiosity is peaking. Where is there a good source for great white info on the net? What do you guys know about these sharks?
I always believed these sharks were a deep water fish, but it seems that they mostly just follow the food.
Any comment and or stories, info, links appreciated.
Thanks,
Billy

 

[zeN||]

Billy GWs often habituate along coastlines, in as few as 3 feet of water, the California coast is a byway for Great Whites, in fact there is an area along Ca Coast from approximately Monterey to San Francisco extending out to the Farralon Islands known as the Red Triangle where great numbers of them are found zeN

 

[norcaldiver]

Here's a story about how far they travel. It's surprising because I always thought of them as coastal. Yeah, they hang out around the farralons and north/central Ca in great we number than typically found anywhere, but it seems that some of them just don't care and swim wherever they want.

 

[billyfrank]

Well I was aware of the red triangle, but did not realize how shallow these sharks come in. Especially scary since I surf also.
Great data on the Stanford page also. I cannot believe the range these fish travel.
Thanks,
Billy

Would like to here of any encounters, video, websites.
Whatever.

 

[drbill]

Gee... I guess that puts an end to my blue water diving in the open Pacific.

GW's have "always" been present in the waters of the Channel Islands due to the pinniped populations that use these islands to haul out and breed. Due to the region's large population there are quite a number of swimmers, surfers, kayakers and divers in the waters here... all posing potential targets for these sharks.

How many attacks have there been over the last 50 years? Statistically a very small number.

Of course I don't want to become one myself so I carry an "insurance policy" on all my dives... my video camera. They don't dare come close to give me a clear shot!

Dr. Bill

 

[norcaldiver]

A very small number indeed. In fact, the guys at the Faralon islands that do the shark dive/shark sightseeing don't guarantee that you'll see one...and that's supposed to be the hot spot.

 

[billyfrank]

Well statistically there have been 106 shark attacks in Ca. since 1952, only 10 have been fatal. The last fatality in 1994. I am not to worried, and do not see myself quiting any of my activities because of it.
The whole incident just made me really curiuos about Great Whites.
Thanks,
Billy
P.S. The lady was putting herself at greater risk by swimming with the seals with fins on. There is the link.

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2003/08/20/state1444EDT0106.DTL

 

[docmartin]

norcaldiver, it is true that they do not guarantee a sighting. but that is the case for all shark dive operators in south africa and australia, too. when i checked their web site a few months ago the farallon operator had only had one single trip with no sighting ever. that's not a bad record. too bad they charge so much (more than $700 for the day). in south africa you pay about $100 for the day. some competition might be a good thing for california great white diving.

 

[mcse_jacksonvil]

She was wearing a black wetsuit and Fins and she was swimming with Seals.

Swim with Shark Food, look like shark food and you will assuredly become shark food.

Not exactly rocket science, after all when swimming with seals, you're the slowest one in the water and we all know it's the stragglers who get eaten.
Natural Selection at its finest.

 

[tankajava]

Billy,

Interestingly enough, my first diving post was on Blade Forums, where I post as java, just this evening when another member mentioned shark sightings near where this attack took place. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=269347

I have the following links bookmarked in my browser:

The American Elasmobranch Society - http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Organizations/aes/aes.htm

All About Sharks - http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bilsons/SHARKS.htm

The Pelagic Shark Research Foundation - http://www.pelagic.org/index.html

The Shark Attack Files are also on-line at http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm and the Animal Attack Files, http://www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/, lists several shark attack cases including this latest one.

For more detailed study, I highly recommend Great White Shark by Richard Ellis and John McCocker, the Facts On File book Sharks, and Great White Sharks: The Biology of Carcharadon carcharias, edited by A. Peter Kimley and David Ainley

TJ