Great White Sharks
Essay Preview: Great White Sharks
Report this essay
Patrick Meehan
Dr. Hurley
Plant Biology
4-28-05
The Great White Shark: Monster of the Ocean
“Its tail swayed slowly from side to side, pushing the hunters body through the
murky water. All signs of motion were non-existent, except for the rhythmic movement
of the water over the five gill slits on either side of its head. Slowly gaining speed, the
shady figures unmoving eyes fixed on its target, a lost harbor seal pup. As the distance
between the predator and its prey grew closer, the jaws of the massive fish drew forward,
exposing nearly eight rows of razor sharp teeth. Strings of its previous meal hung in rows
from between its teeth. Sensing danger, the harbor seal frantically tried to find a place to
seek refuge, but it was too late. The jaws of the shark closed around the seal with an
astounding 14,000 pounds of pressure, cutting the seal in half. The Great White shark
claims another victim”. (Animal Planet.com)
Any one whos seen the famous movie series “Jaws” may look at the Great White
Shark as a “man killer”. Perhaps its the way that Hollywood uses a mix of fact and
fiction in the movie. This may have frightened many people into fearing the Great White
for its ferocity. It might have also been the size of the shark in the movie thats kept
thousands of people off the beaches and out of the water. It could also have been have
been the overall storyline: A Great White shark with an eating disorder and a taste for
human flesh. Perhaps thats what was keeping vacationers from grabbing their trousers
and snorkels.
Over all, there have been 1026 attacks on humans by sharks in the last ten 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 in the U. S. Of these 294 attacks, less than eighteen percent were fatal. Out of the fifty-three fatal incidents more than seventy percent was attributed to loss of blood. This means that the shark didnt eat the victims. The shark bit the victims and then released them (also known as the taste test). The shark samples the victim by nibbling on an appendage or two often resulting in a severed artery or other major blood vessel. (Natke)
The “sampling of the victim”, by the Great White, intrigued scientists considering the size of the sharks brain. The Great Whites brain is about one half the size of a dogs brain. Over seventy percent of the brain is used for tracking prey. The other thirty percent is used for body functions. Studies show that the sharks main purpose is to eat. People think that the sharks main purpose is to kill. This is incorrect; sharks only eat when they are hungry. Impulses from the brain are sent to the jaws and the stomach telling the shark that it is time to hunt for food. (Natke)
Why do sharks not follow a basic attack pattern on a human? In a human attack,
the primary strike is usually the only contact, as though the shark finds us (humans) to be
unpalatable. There is a theory on this as well, involving the differences in our anatomy
and the panpipes (seals, sea lions). We are mostly muscle where the panpipe body has a
great deal of fat. It is theorized that the shark somehow senses this and abandons us as a
potential meal because our bodies are not as energy-rich as the panpipes. Of course, the bite is often bad enough to kill us – or at least, really screw up our day!
The Great White shark has remained unchanged for 250 million years. Its scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias. This is derived from the Greek “carcharos” meaning “ragged” and the Greek, “odon” meaning “tooth”. There isnt a defined size range for the Great White but most experts agree that the length of the shark is usually between 12 and 16 feet with the maximum figure being about 19 to 21 feet. (The 21-foot is an actual record from 1948. The largest ever recorded!) If the Great White is that big try to imagine the size of those massive jaws and teeth, Not to mention the enormous power behind those jaws.. These huge eating machines used to be even bigger! The precursor to the Great White was once known as Carcharodon megalodon. The only difference 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 giant of the deep could swallow a city bus whole. There are many scientists who theorize that there may still be some of these giants down there down deep enough where the bodies would never wash up on shore.
The Great Whites teeth are serrated like a bread knife. Averaging about one to two
inches in length and about one-half to one inch in width. These teeth are so ragged and so
sharp, old native spears have been found with these teeth on the end of them. Scientists
think the natives used these spears as saws!
The most mysterious aspect about the Great White is its life span. No one in
history has recorded the life span of one individual shark. There was