Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)

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Apr 10, 2023 2:42:39 GMT 5 Life said:

Evidence of a failed predatory attempt by an orca, Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758), on a great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758).

Abstract

The first observation of a live great white shark Carcharodon carcharias bearing tooth rake marks by an orca Orcinus orca on the left flank is presented. The estimated 3.5-m shark was observed on 7 July, 2017, at Seal Island in False Bay, Western Cape, South Africa. This case provides evidence that great white sharks can survive an attack by an orca.

Citation: De Maddalena, A. (2023). Evidence of a failed predatory attempt by an orca, Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758), on a great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758). Marine Biological Journal, 8(1), 51-55.

Link: marine-biology.ru/mbj/article/view/371

Very awesome find! I took screenshots from the full paper.

[elosha11]

Photo of the 1987 Malta great white I've not seen before. Definitely a giant specimen.



myislandtoursmalta.com/articles/malta-blue-grotto-mellieha-bay-great-white-shark-malta/

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In 1950 a great white shark was found with 150 crabs in its stomach.



www.jstor.org/stable/1439113?origin=crossref

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Somehow I didn't realize I didn't put this post in the great white shark profile like I intended, but put it in 'Recommended literature'...awkward...

Anyway, here's evidence of great white shark teeth used as pendants (and possibly even tools) by early-middle Holocene hunter-gatherers in the eastern Pampas. They most likely obtained them from stranded sharks that washed up on land or even from the bodies of prey attacked by sharks and found later by humans.

Two great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) teeth recovered in a terrestrial mammal huntergatherers context in the Pampas are described. Associated lithic (mainly quarzite) tools, and the predominant exploitation of the Lama guanicoe relate the ancient inhabitants of the site with those of the early-middle Holocene sites of the Area Interserrana of the Provincia de Buenos Aires. According to the stratigraphic context and the terrestrial fauna, the age of the deposit seems to be constrained to the early-middle Holocene. The root tips of the shark teeth are marked by an artificial transvers groove fitted to tie a thread. Tooth edge serrations are strongly eroded, suggesting they were used as tools. We favour the hypotheses that the fish could have stranded on the beach or a small estuary in the neighbourhood, or that the teeth were obtained from the body of a pinniped attacked by a shark and sobsequenty [sic] found by humans.

www.researchgate.net/profile/Mariano-Bonomo/publication/229958565_Great_white_shark_teeth_used_as_pendants_and_possible_tools_by_Early-Middle_Holocene_terrestrial_mammal_hunter-gatherers_in_the_Eastern_Pampas_Southern_South_America/links/5a59f969aca2727d6082ad59/Great-white-shark-teeth-used-as-pendants-and-possible-tools-by-Early-Middle-Holocene-terrestrial-mammal-hunter-gatherers-in-the-Eastern-Pampas-Southern-South-America.pdf

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Here's a record of successful predation on a Cuvier's beaked whale by a great white shark. This species can weigh some 2,500-3,500 kg as adults, whereas to my understanding, only exceptionally large great white sharks reach this sort of body mass. If so, it's likely that this whale was larger than the shark. The sex is not specified, but if it was a male, it would additionally have been armed with two teeth that are likely used for intraspecific combat.



www.researchgate.net/publication/261913299_White_Shark_Predation_and_Scavenging_on_Cetaceans_in_the_Eastern_North_Pacific_Ocean

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Three-dimensional shape of natural riblets in the white shark: relationship between the denticle morphology and swimming speed of sharks

The ridges of the dermal denticles of migratory sharks have inspired riblets to reduce the frictional drag of a fluid. In particular, the dermal denticles of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are characterized by a high middle ridge and low side ridges. The detailed morphology of their denticles and their variation along the body, however, have never been investigated. Moreover, the hydrodynamic function of high–low combinations of ridges is unknown. In this article, the ridge spacings and heights of the white shark denticles were three-dimensionally quantified using microfocus X-ray computed tomography. Then, the swimming speed at which the ridges would reduce drag was hydrodynamically calculated with a flat plate body model and previous riblet data. High ridges with a large spacing were found to effectively reduce drag at a migration speed of 2.3 m s−1, while adjacent high and low ridges with a small spacing reduced drag at a burst hunting speed of 5.1 m s−1. Moreover, the above hydrodynamic calculation method was also applied to the shortfin mako shark and an extinct giant shark (called megalodon) with known ridge spacings, resulting in the estimated hunting speeds of 10.5 m s−1 and 5.9 m s−1, respectively.

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rsif.2024.0063

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A couple papers on agonistic behavior in great white sharks.

www.semanticscholar.org/paper/CHAPTER-22-%E2%80%93-Tail-Slap-and-Breach%3A-Agonistic-among-Klimley/7fa7260029d47577925ada5e549758eda864780a

static1.squarespace.com/static/5de7ab07465f7953ae1b53db/t/63f40aaf27e66a4901fcdfd0/1676937907092/Klimley_Hoyos_Convulsive_Body_Shuddering_White_Shark_2023.pdf

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So apparently white sharks go up to 5.9 m/s when hunting, and even up to 6.7 m/s when breaching during hunting (I need to get full access to the paper to see what it exactly says, but I found this through a more recent study).

ABSTRACT: Hunting large, fast-moving mammals by top predators often involves highly energetic burst locomotion, and studying such behaviour can reveal how physiological capacity shapes predator-prey relationships. Although increasingly sophisticated animal-borne devices have allowed the recording of terrestrial predators’ behaviour (e.g. cheetahs) hunting herbivorous mammals, similar approaches have rarely been applied to marine predators hunting mammals. Here, we deployed video cameras (lasting for 6 h) and accelerometers (lasting for 2 d) on 8 white sharks Carcharodon carcharias aggregating near colonies of long-nosed fur seals Arctocephalus forsteri. Video showed one shark attacking a seal, during which an intensive swimming event (lateral acceleration: 3.7 × g, tailbeat frequency: 3.3 Hz, estimated swim speed: 6.7 m s-1) was recorded. Based on this confirmed event, 7 potential predation events were identified from 150 h of acceleration data. The events occurred at various depths (0-53 m) and primarily at nighttime and during crepuscular periods, partly contrasting with well documented seal-hunting breaching behaviour that occurs primarily during crepuscular periods. This study demonstrates that, despite inherent difficulties, recording infrequent hunting events of top marine predators provides insight into their hunting strategies and maximum locomotor performance.

www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v621/p221-227/

[Supercommunist]

GWs chasing a stringray.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sharks/comments/125p44g/young_great_white_chasing_a_stingray/