![]() Additionally, Lowe said it makes sense that it would be Deep Blue because "female sharks usually swim out to the middle of the Pacific, sometimes as far out as Hawaii, for two years before they come back to California or Mexico to have their pups. "Nobody knows for sure why they do it," Lowe continued, explaining that Deep Blue was spotted off the coast of California over a year ago.Īccording to tracking data, the female sharks typically return to the West Coast - either Baja California, Mexico or California - in the early spring to deliver their pups. Regardless, Lowe said tagging data indicate three female sharks have been recorded feasting on the "floating buffet" that is the dead sperm whale carcass off Oahu. ![]() "For a female that's carrying six babies - two to 10 babies that will be born at about 4 1/2 to 5 feet long, weighing about 40 pounds apiece - that's more than just a meal. It's like five Thanksgiving feasts all in one go," he said. Shark populations around Hawaii have been declining for years, and Ramsey said she hopes Deep Blue's moment in the spotlight will also shine a light on much-needed shark protection legislation. "There are currently no laws to protect sharks from being killed" except for a ban on killing them for their fins," she wrote in a statement. "And even that law has many loop holes," she added.Kimberly Jeffries spotted the dead sperm whale from nearly half a mile away-a white mass the size of a bus bobbing in the calm early-morning waters. It was January 2019, and Jeffries, a Hawaii-based nature and wildlife photographer, had arrived at this spot a couple of miles southwest of Waikiki hoping to catch a glimpse of predators drawn to the floating cetacean feast. Mere moments after she jumped in, something tens of feet below caught her eye: a massive great white shark wending her way up from the deep. Stretching some 20 feet from tip to tail, it was the famous Deep Blue, one of the largest great white sharks ever caught on film. (Most female great whites average around 15 to 16 feet.) Over three days, Jeffries and her colleagues documented the extraordinary spectacle-while maintaining a respectful distance-as two more mature female white sharks came to chow down on the sperm whale carcass. “It was one of those rare weeks where there’s no wind there’s no swells,” Jeffries says. ![]() And that meant astonishing underwater views, including photos and video, of Deep Blue and the other great whites feeding, offering a rare glimpse into the lives of these top predators. ![]() ![]() Watch World’s Biggest Great White?, which airs July 21 at 8 p.m. ET on National Geographic Channel, as part of SharkFest. The sighting is also unusual for both the number and sex of animals spotted. Female white sharks seem to be mostly solitary creatures. “Maybe we just don’t know they’re there and this just provided a rare opportunity to see them.” “Are there more females hanging around the Hawaiian Islands than we know about?” wonders Christopher Lowe, director of the shark lab at California State University in Long Beach.Īnd while great white sharks have likely visited Hawaii for centuries, scientists think there probably isn’t a resident population. While great whites are the most famous shark species, there’s a lot we don’t know-in part because they’re tricky to study, thanks to their elusive nature and wide-ranging migrations, covering thousands of miles per year.īy cataloging such encounters, scientists hope to gain a better understanding of where the creatures spend their time, which helps create more effective conservation measures. The great white, listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, has many threats including sport fishing and accidental killing as bycatch. ![]()
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