White Shark Numbers Increasing Since Protection But Footage Of Mating Still Elusive
It is the elusive "holy grail" for shark documentary filmmakers, but to date nobody has seen great whites mating, nor do researchers know where they give birth.
They are the missing pieces in the shark's population puzzle for scientists. Researchers believe knowing how many are born each year may help determine the population size, the effectiveness of protection for the species and shark attack mitigation implications for humans.
Female white sharks do not reach sexual maturity until they are at least 4.5m long, while males are mature at 3.7 m (Photo: Calypso Star Charters)
Flinders University Shark Ecology Group leader Charlie Huveneers said there was "anecdotal" drone footage that appeared to show a great white giving birth.
A YouTube video shows the possible birth near California in July last year.
"And someone may have seen a birth from an oil rig," Professor Huveneers said. "Their breeding is considered the holy grail of footage for film crews, but no one has seen it yet."
White sharks have been protected for more than twenty years to help the species recover from the impacts of gillnet fishing and game fishing, but mystery still surrounds their breeding habits.
He said white shark recovery had been slow because they potentially only had four to eight pups every two years and females did not reach maturity until they were 4.5 metres long. Maturity for males is 3.7m.
Charlie Huveneers says attempts to find nursery areas for Australia's south-western populations have been unsuccessful
"I'm aware of all these anecdotal observations that suggests that people are seeing more and more white sharks and, again, that goes in line with the expected recovery," Professor Huveneers said.
"What the extent of that recovery is something we don't quite know but having access to the juveniles and nursery areas can help us in understanding, assessing and quantifying the recovery."
Research since white sharks gained protection in 1999 has defined two distinct populations in Australian waters, which include:
- An eastern population of about 5,460, including 750 adults, ranging east of Wilson's Promontory in Victoria to at least Central Queensland and across to New Zealand
- A south-western population of about 1,460 adult sharks ranging west of Wilson's Promontory to north-western Western Australia
Researchers had theories about the location of nursery areas in the south-western population, based on sightings of 1.7m sharks, but they did not have documentation of breeding or birthing, with newborns thought to be between 1.2m to 1.5m in length.
Google Maps until recently had pins labelled "shark breeding site" placed at Elliston and at Streaky Bay on South Australia's west coast — both sites of shark attacks this year.
Google did not provide details or evidence of where its information came from, but the pins were removed following enquiries by the ABC.
"I hadn't actually seen it until [the ABC] brought it up," Professor Huveneers said. "I'm not quite sure where they got these points from but they're not quite accurate and they're somewhat misrepresentative of the actual size of some of these important areas for great white sharks."
He said there was documentation of some nursery areas in Australia based on congregations of small white sharks aged two to three years old.
Professor Huveneers said there were areas in WA and also the Great Australian Bight, Coorong, St Vincent and Spencer gulfs in South Australia that might be important areas for juvenile congregations but so far sightings of the sharks were infrequent.
"There have been attempts to find nursery areas for the south-west populations but it was unsuccessful," Professor Huveneers said.
The vast area and lack of people in the Great Australian Bight made it difficult to find sharks.
Tags fitted to sharks
The CSIRO said genetic research on juveniles in eastern Australia had provided population estimates but similar data in the south-western population required an expanded tagging effort.
Charlie Huveneers attaches a camera to a great white shark (Photo: Andrew Fox)
Fitting satellite tags on mature sharks might provide clues to their breeding habitats. The CSIRO has coordinated the tagging of 210 sharks, ranging in size from less than 2m to more than 5m in NSW, WA and SA.
There have been 480 sharks tagged with conventional tags between January 1974 to November 2006, mostly at Neptune Islands and Dangerous Reef off Port Lincoln in SA. There have also been sharks tagged with acoustic tags and satellite tags that record their positioning.
Professor Huveneers said the majority of sharks tagged off the Neptune Islands and other islands near Port Lincoln were still immature.
"Over time...if we are able to tag large mature females, we might be able to get a better understanding of where these females might go for pupping or mating," he said.
"If we see that all the females go to a certain location at a certain time of the year and it is consistently every two years, then that would suggest that it's linked to a reproduction cycle."
However, that would still leave the mystery about how, and where, the great whites mated unsolved.
© Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Comments
Not sure what all the fuss is about getting film of Whites Bonking is .
Some people and their search to film a Holy Grail ?
A bit perverted imho lol
Am guessing if I filmed Blue Sharks bonking , Trans'ed the footage with a lot of White Stuff , I could sell it as Whites bonking and make gazillions .
I bet they do it the same , almost .
Filming aliens mating , now , that is something I might watch !!!
anecdotal observations. haha. just check shark twitter. they're everywhere. 'Endangered species' has lost it's meaning.
I think that’s the first time I’ve heard them say the numbers are increasing
certainly is GF. Good to see Charlie has the balls to acknowledge common sense.
Probably only because their U.S colleagues said they were at the recent 'shark conference'.
https://saveourseas.com/project-leader/charlie-huveneers/
"Google Maps until recently had pins labelled "shark breeding site" placed at Elliston and at Streaky Bay on South Australia's west coast — both sites of shark attacks this year.
Google did not provide details or evidence of where its information came from, but the pins were removed following enquiries by the ABC.
"I hadn't actually seen it until the ABC brought it up," Professor Huveneers said.
"I'm not quite sure where they got these points from but they're not quite accurate and they're somewhat misrepresentative of the actual size of some of these important areas for great white sharks."
Warnings about Great white sharks in the areas of fatal attacks Removed!
What a great achievement, well done ABC reporter.
Both warnings prophetically pinned on Google Maps prior to fatal attacks.
Google maps allow tags to be added on to their Map. BTW There's more, so keep looking, maybe take heed from the prophet is the message to be learned.
Put signs up saying "shark sighted"etc after a attack as per usual.
Great white shark protection is a conspiracy imo, it has been from the day these sharks were "protected / endangered" .
I think the reason is simply to stop people going in the ocean and surfing. Get back to work- don't you have a job?!
Everything makes sense if you consider it this way.
The mystery about numbers and mating areas, is part of the subterfuge,
I think it's great that they are protected, the planet needs this attitude, with just about everything, problem is that nothing else is protected, many species diminishing = imbalance.
These attacks are only going to continue, get more frequent, kill people more and more. With humans affecting the behaviour of these sharks. these animals are adapting, eating humans, going into new areas, spreading. No Extinction occuring soon.
Please protect everything else in the ocean and on land, while we are on the subject. Enjoy your seafood hypocritters
Can't tell if this is a joke but if it is, it's funny
Reading this:
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/white-shark.pdf
and this:
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/white-shark-issu...
... it seems like the commercial fishing bans and associated recovery plan implemented in 1999 were based on a decades-long decline in shark catch numbers, interactions and catch sizes, rather than direct observational research to support population decline.
In 2013 the Australian government reviewed the plan and acknowledged there was "no evidence to suggest that white shark numbers have recovered substantially since receiving protection (Reid et al., 2011)". This is not say they hadn't; merely that they are hard to count, as they "travel widely over distances of thousands of kilometres" and are "a widely dispersed, low density, highly mobile apex predator." Fair enough.
From the article above it appears we have some firmer numbers, but as this is a snapshot, not a time series, I guess an understanding of their breeding patterns would help model recovery rates.
The main objective of the recovery plan is "improving the population status, leading to future removal of the white shark from the threatened species list of the EPBC Act."
Does anyone know:
a. What this means in terms of numbers. What would qualify them to be removed from the threatened species list?
b. What reasons there are for preservation, other than the inherent and self-evident benefit of not destroying a species which has been around, in one form or another, since before the time of the dinosaurs.
Assuming we knew a. we would also be able to extrapolate the cost of reaching that in terms of lives lost to swimmers and surfers.
I thought that young adelesent whites habitated drop offs behind sand banks or beaches, as this was a premium hunting area for sting rays easily located under sand drifts by the Sharks magic magnetic electronic locating detecting super powers, a theory also supported by the energy requirements of an adelesent whites that match the energy on offer from an eaten Ray, plus similar comparisons with seasonal school fish salmon etc coexisting with rays while also matching the deity needs of the growing adelesent white, a hypothesis that live happily with the greatly increased interactions with surfers on the east coast beaches at a time that the previously protected Sharks reached the age that most suited their needs to utilise sandy drop offs while increasing the odds of interactions. Then when a Sharks grow to adulthood and need a greater volume of calories to transport it's increased mass requiring a far richer food source to meet its dietary needs, coincidentally the new food needs are spread out over a far greater Ocean habitat, again coincidentally increasing the calories needed to patrol its expanding supermarket to source the ever increasing energy requirements whilst meeting it's new addiction to the super power food from seals, and changing where and with who it socialises and the type of interactions likely to occur where rip energy disapates behind sand banks, aka the lineups. This theory would also love to utilise the hughly diminished amount of interactions between larger adult whites with surfers in reef waves that share more than a similar drop of to increasing water depth. Perhaps the lessons learnt from thinking opportunitys becoming easier utilised as the need to refill the belly becoming less frequent and the new cilibus includes visual distinctions between surfers and sea mamals.or maybe it's simply an impulse control ability to take a second look before taking a first bite?, whatever the lesson it's existence is very most likely occuring as the very unscientific observations are claiming to confirm that teenageers are trouble and a bit dumb regardless of species.
5 times more pointers on the East coast than the West coast eh?
haha. I actually spit my coffee out from laughing when i read that.
I'm sure it's got nothing to do with the sheer number of sharks being tagged on the East coast compared to the vast South Western quadrant of our continent.
This is what they're calling science! HA!
Think you might have misread it mate? 750 adults in the Eastern population, 1460 adults sharks in the SW population?
ahh yep. Check. Misread but tricky wording.
That number makes more sense.
Science Rules! hehe.
That's one coffee i'll never get back.
Cheers sirboonie!
Nah, mate, you read it wrong. 750 adult whites east; 1460 adults west
Yep noted above mate.
Am humbly handing myself over to science as we speak for my sinful words :-P
CSIRO are privy with tagging and movement data. They have learnt more than they let on. Given how broad estimates were with the genetic pooling on the east coast seven years ago. It’s hard to be confident with any population numbers scientists state publicly. It’s in their best interest to keep those funding dollars rolling in. One theory amongst a few local surfers and fisherman in the northern rivers. Is there's a birthing area either from Evans Heads to Broadwater or Evans Head to Woody Head. They regularly tag small whites under 2 meters on the Evan’s drum lines. Way more regularly than say Ballina only 30 odd clicks up the beach. Given it’s the CSIRO and DPI regularly tagging these small whites. Wouldn’t you think they would research and look in to this or is it possible they already know one exists there, and have chosen to keep it private from the public.
North of woody head is called shark bay.........mmm your on the money groundy
Maybe NSW Fisheries put the public fear money into nets, drum lines, drones and education, limiting research $.
"Expert Barry Bruce has never seen as many juvenile great whites in one location as this isolated stretch of beach off the central coast of NSW. " in 2011
"The nursery area consists of a 50km stretch of broken coastline between Seal Rocks and Stockton Beach; it is bound by a surf zone of picturesque beaches and rocky headlands on one side and an offshore coastal reef on the other."
"Beneath the surface, patchy temperate reefs teeming with marine life contrast with the meandering backwaters and tidal flow of the Port Stephens estuary."
"The interaction of the East Australian Current with the structure of the coastline provides nutrient-rich conditions for schools of Australian salmon, mulloway, mullet and snapper, the favoured meals of the juvenile sharks. “Port Stephens is a great place to fish,” says Barry. “It’s just that the sharks are better fishers than most of us.”
"Since CSIRO’s first expedition to the area in 2007, the team has tagged 32 juvenile great white sharks off Bennetts, Mungo Brush and Stockton beaches. The sharks live in the nursery area between late winter and mid-summer, before moving south to the Corner Inlet region of Victoria, where they stay until autumn. After this, Barry says, it’s difficult to generalise the sharks’ movements before they return."
Reference https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2011/12/great-wh...
CSIRO Research above inspired by these characters below
searching for high definition footage of mating
Keep your eyes shut when duckdiving....
Some gopro shots appear to show Mr GW Shark swimming close by...
Better not to know sometimes.
What’s the penalty if caught shooting whites? Pretty easily done I’d imagine for anyone with a decent boat and guns in isolated surf zones. Sounds red neck crazy but is it really? Singaporeans, Malaysians and many other communities live free from crocodile attacks due to prioritising human lives over the beasts. In those countries these animals are generally ‘relocated’. This clearly isn’t possible for sharks, nor are our governments planning any intervention. But if I was an isolated NT farmer, or an isolated SA/WA fisherman & surfer, I wouldn’t think twice about taking action as per my initial question.
https://portlincolntimes.com.au/community-news/2023/12/25/illegal-shark-...
http://sharkyear.com/2013/great-white-shark-illegally-killed-in-south-au...
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/man-fined-almost-20000-o...
Stainless steel guns are best for a nice days boating.
Fuck ..Those Shark experts can smell the potential research money there ..Whites on the increase we need to know where there giving birth so we can throw some Government regulation and management at em ...anything but leave em alone
Might even be able to sell veiwing rights to high paying punters while we look all enviromentally freindly .
With chance to burn a family run cray or abolone buisness or 2 while where at it ...
The research magic pudding
Looks like all the whingers and whiners came out to play on Swellnet today - personally I found this an interesting read
but what's science ever done for us?
First candidate for comment of the year.
more than the Romans
I recently saw a very brave woman swim with a Big White called Big Blue .
As the huge shark had gorged itself on Whale ( so fat ) it showed NO interest in her , at all .
I surfed near Brunswick Heads for 6 six years in the 70's .
Never saw a small White !
A few other species .
I get the feeling , on the East Coast !!!! , it's the small whites that bite humans .
The small ones are not the breeders .
If a small one is a problem , kill it imho .
edit
A dangerous shark , of any colour , gets only ONE chance .
edit
Unless it is Big Blue , she looks wonderful .
If she came for ME , I would be ...pretty ok with it , perhaps .
No point fighting her :)
So , if she eats me , leave her alone !
If a small one eats me , kill it .
Look for the small white with two black eyes .
I think it's true that its the smaller ones doing the biting. At a certain age (probably the same number as the years since being given protected species gift) their dietary needs are met by hunting the drop offs behind banks
And where rip energy disapates. As they get towards the end of this adelesent dining phase and start to need a food source high enough in energy to travel the distances required by their next life stage they must transition to a diet of seal as the rays and school fish attained at the beaches no longer cut it, add the inexperience in locating and killing seals it's no wonder they're having a crack at anything resembling the food needed. This isn't a situation that's evolved in any way consided naturally. This is a horrible man made situation that's been growing since protection of these monsters begun and will continue so long as the young ones reach the size and age that transitioning to seals is needed. Good onyas people another unthought out policy to win votes in an era now forgotten except for the blood.
And another un-natural thing we've done is continue to fish the yummy species the juvenile whites like to snack on, like the humble pink snapper. Check out the difference in size between now and the catches made in the 1950s - time dwarfism via over-hunting...
I tried to google what a Juvenile Great White is defined as .
I have seen a few boards in the last 10 years with BIG bites taken out .
A new born GW is , apparently , 4-5ft , juvenile 6-9ft and then Adults .
The girls can live , probably , as long as a human ( 70-100?) .
On the numbers I found , my gut feeling tells me there is too BIG a gap between an Adult and a juvenile .
A GW 12fl could take a HUGE bite out of any board , and be hanging close to shore ????
Wondering what size a GW is when it heads WAY out the back .
Perhaps , what's an Adult .
Collating bite sizes should be done , somewhere ?
As U can see , I have no idea .
There must be recorded evidence of how Hawaiians dealt with Problem sharks .
As their kids were swimming and surfing so much , a Chief would probably know ALL the sharks , like neighbours .
Would know the sharks behaviours and personalities .
Guessing every shark in the lagoon had a name .
All the sharks would know , don't touch the Tribes kids , or the Chief will kill U , am guessing .
If a Chief from another tribe said that they don't kill problem sharks , the chief would ask where do the kids swim ?
Perhaps , with a really big efforts , a big percentage of GW's can be tagged ( only small ones , leave the big ones alone ) and tracked .
IF an incident happens , and ONE shark was in the area , hunt it , kill it and eat it .
Just like the Hawaiian Chief , perhaps .
edit
I have seen footage of brother GW's cruising and hunting together .
If the are Two sharks , kill them both , and don't let them breed .
The Chief would know which one did the unthinkable .
Wtf.
Wild scenes in your head Pop D
#DaturaintheDocklands
Dont get too affectionate with a Great white shark.... while its eating?
What to do , and NOT , to do .
If the silly frogman interrupted my dinner , I would bite him to .
What a Dill .
sorry for gettting philosophical but if a shark roots in the ocean and nobody is around to film it, did it really happen?
Oxy, u are no moron lol
I used to wonder about about things just like that , to .
The answer is Easy .
Of course , vibrations can travel .
Two Big GW Bonking would create more vibrations than a butterfly wing , am guessing ( it's never been filmed , apparently ) .
Edit
An don't vibrations just cruise through water ?
interesting, I never considered the vibes, although you'd think it'd give off a similar pattern to lets say a pair of elephant seals or orcas rooting, assuming they also root in the water
https://hakaimagazine.com/news/nine-out-ten-shark-scientists-agree-susta...
quote from above reference on one persons Phd interpretation of responses on a one off survey below
" Sonja Fordham, the president of Shark Advocates International, a nonprofit dedicated to advocating for science-based shark conservation policies, wasn’t surprised by the results. She says that most scientists are data-driven, and agrees that evidence shows managing fisheries is the best way to protect sharks. “There aren’t a whole lot of success stories out there,” she says, “but the ones that we have, the recovery was due to quotas, or species-specific prohibition.”
But, Fordham stresses that a range of factors, not just data, go into shaping fishing policy. Developing countries might lack the resources for intensive fisheries management, and find that an outright ban is a better alternative. And conservation groups focused on animal welfare may oppose shark finning because they believe that it is cruel, even if the data say it can be done sustainably."
Shark scientists survey 2021 quoted response below
"Most advocates support the same evidence-based policies as academic and government scientists, while a smaller percentage are driven more by moral and ethical beliefs and may not find scientific research relevant or persuasive. "
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-96020-4
mike , Orca's , probably .
Not like Elephant Seals , at all .
The male is the Dominant one in that vibrating situation .
With a GW its the female .
Guessing , if a male tried any hanky-panky , the female would Eat him .
They eat their kids too .
U don't F with Big Blue !!!
edit
As it's never been filmed a GW might be like a Spider .
Eat her mate ( they go willingly ) AFTER sex .
Dog eat Dog , in the animal kingdom .
Gents
I have been to Fiji and to Africa .
Those people know about dealing with animals , have for centuries .
Maybe , we should learn from them ?
Really try and get to know GW's .
Try and keep track of them in places where our children swim 2 .
Do U Shark Watchers have any idea's that are NOT wtf ?
Just asking .
Actually , the Chief in Fiji , was scared of sharks , so not a good example .
There was NO surf and they had a river .
But the African's aren't scared of Lions ( during the day ) .
They say , U stand your ground , and don't RUN ( handy as I can't ) , if a Lion charges at U .
U don't do that with a Hippo .
They can't stop , obviously .
edit
The Only Elephants to really be a problem are the juvenile Males .
The matriarch throws those ALL those guys OUT of the herd , quick smart .
No fucking around and no sentiments !!!
Her own son included .
It's the Buffalo that are the big problems .
U run , climb a big tree , and don't pop down .
They will be watching to see if U do .
edit 2
So , if I see a GW coming at me , I will do as the above smart diver did .
Do nothing .
Should be doable as will be frozen with fear .
This thread has been a big help .
Wish i could say the same
I forgot who I was there for a minute
Hey Pop..... that shark you are referring to is named Deep Blue. The diver swimming with her is the very aptly named Ocean Ramsey. She usually dives with Tiger Sharks off Hawaii (Maui, maybe?) and has a coupla Tiger Shark friends, it seems. And, actually, it was assumed that it was Deep Blue, just because no other known white sharks are that big, but it now believed to have been Haole Girl, another monster female over 20ft. long, discovered after Deep Blue. There's a third one, too, but i forget her name and am too lazy to look it up, lol.
Anyways, have a good day/night.
https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/a...
Thanks waxy 24 - Deep Blue , I will remember that :)
Ocean Ramsey sounds VERY cool .
As she knows Deep Blue , no other sharks will be a problem for her .
I probably said something silly like Dark Blue or Big Blue .
Thanks for keeping an eye on me as I am too quick ( and lazy 2 ) , and stuff up , often .
Bottom line - CULL GWS
That wont happen any time soon.... so whats plan "B" ?
The Act needs to be revised and amended, specifically regarding GWS.
Won't happen. Even if Whites are taken off the vulnerable/threatened/endangered lists I reckon they will still be protected in perpetuity.
Culling an endangered species is UnAustralian .
Let's stick with Plan A .
Protect our swimmers and surfers at OUR beaches .
Life Savers have been doing it for decades .
I live in Melbourne , so don't think Sharky thoughts , much .
What I have read on SN says the Net's , somehow , SHOULD stay .
Good , they make swimmers FEEL safe , anyway .
Keep learning about GW's .
On the East Coast , especially young ones .
Tag as many Man Eaters swimming around , Especially around Port Stephen's when they are young .
Tag Big ones in SA and WA !
Track them , have drones and coppers watch for them , have social media let people know if there are sharks around .
A Shark bite on a board tells , now , a lot .
Type and size of shark .
And time !
What do these records tell us ?
With interactions like Ocean and Deep Blue , being recorded , World Wide , there MUST be a wealth of knowledge being recorded every day .
There seems to be a Wealth of Knowledge already out there ALREADY , I haven't seen .
I think Australia SHOULD invest in a Shark Iron Dome .
$500 million was wasted recently .
Lets invest a Billion to help protect OUR kids NOW .
It's a problem WE need to sort out .
I don't like leaving My problems for kids to clean up .
IF ANY shark is a Problem ( as defined by me ) , kill it , clean it and eat it .
That's NOT a Cull .
It's doing the right thing .
Natural selection type stuff .
Getting rid of problems .
edit
IF an Orca went Rogue , and became a problem for people , it to , would have to be , put down .
Sad , but true .
edit
So , Plan A , BUT lets DO it properly .
Sharks thought .
Humans ( especially surfers ) have made the beaches OUR habitats .
We have made the Sky's OUR habitats to .
We , generally , love animals and WILL protect them .
Exactly the same with our environment .
BUT , all animals heed our warning !
Like the FIRST fish to walk on Land , Humans , can Go anywhere they like .
We need to , mainly , think of ourselves first .
Especially , our Children .
It is OUR time to Shine .
Mother Earth thinks we are SO cool imho .
She WILL miss us when we leave her soon .
Any and ALL scratches , climate change , minerals etc etc that humans have caused or used , will heal or be replaced in a blink of her eye .
She will hope another , human type , comes and uses her again , to make , HER , their home .
edit
She always keeps her house in oder .
She wonders why we want to help , so much ?
It's HER job .
She just wants US to have fun and have a crack , like all her inhabitants .
We are not THAT special .
Melbourne ay? Makes sense.
Haha so true. Definitely sounds like a Melbournian who surfs Torquay twice a year on a 9ft log, but at the same time has a 'deep connection' with the ocean and its 'inhabitants'.
Seeing Whales migrating ( my mate in Byron reckons he counted 25000 this year ( an increase of 10% this year ) is one of my greatest pleasures .
I have said , I never saw any , in the 70's around Brunswick Heads .
Mother Earth would have been very happy to .
Her views on things are different as she has seen a lot more than we have .
She knows that she will die to , ie Endangered .
She knows all species on her live , on average , a million years .
She has seen 99.9% of species who have lived on her die .
Thats life and not even SHE can do anything about it .
BUT , she has it ALL organised .
For EVERY beautiful Organism who disappears , ANOTHER will replace it .
Hukuna Makarta ( Lion King ) Stuff .
So , WTF , is REALLY , endangered , is in the Eye of the Beholder imho .
I will try and look at things , from HER perspective ( hard as I am not as smart as SHE is ) .
edit
Seems like SN has NO view on a Shark Iron Dome .
I wonder if Coastal Watch surfers would be interested ???
Where are you getting your drugs? Can I have the contact?
Suspect its a bit like alligators in the US - they're were endangered in the 70s and when they were given half a chance 20 or 30 years later they were everywhere. They just needed half a chance because its an ancient specie (both sharks and crocodilia) and thus it must be good at surviving.
hello t-diddy ( sounds like lol )
Have alligators been taken OFF your endangered list ?
What do U guys do ( officially and perhaps unofficially ) IF an alligator becomes a problem ?
Guessing U kill them , clean them , eat them and wear them ???
Very cool imho
I have tried Massi Mara Croc ( shitty chicken yuk ) .
ancient species like crocodiles would have largest territories for the largest & smartest individuals. Korie locals would only let their kids swim where they could watch the biggest crocodile on the bank of the river, knowing there were no other crocks nearby.
After WW1 & WW2 guys shot most of the big old crocks for the leather trade. The adolescent crocks took over the whole river system, few places were safe to swim, more problems & more shootings followed.... until their breeding & numbers dropped; so they translocated the manageable ones away from towns & made crock farms, movies and legends.
Were there ever Crocs in Koori Waters ?
If U , know , perhaps U could save Me some time by letting us know .
I know U know the answer , Sherlock (. thinking of changing this ) .
I note the correct spelling of Koori .
edit
This story of FNP dealing with Croc's would definitely be TRUE imho !
It sounds SO sensible .
Diddy mentioned Alligators doing similar stuff .
A big MALE does dominate a territory .
That is the ONE to be nice to ( watch out for ) .
When HE is having a nap on the bank , the KIDS can have a safe swim .
It might be an Old wives tale .
Gold information , birdy :) , for me .
A pity Deep Blue isn't patrolling the Australian beaches .
She would keep the young GW's in check , for sure .
Those Korie locals worked out very nicely imho , how to live in harmony with a Croc .
Guessing they would have killed any rogues .
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0599
Interesting read. Thanks Udo.
"Most associations were recorded at Colinas Blancas (68%) where most of the cage diving activity takes place,"
This line alone shows conclusively that cage diving is having a major effect on their behaviour, hence humans are, yet again changing the natural behaviour of wild animals.
With cage diving operating off Pt Lincoln as well as the mass tuna farming, is it any wonder there's an abundance of curious pointers that associate humans with food?
Pointer vision. Pretty cool.
https://rs.figshare.com/articles/media/Animal-borne_camera_tag_footage_f...
Wow, very cool.
That turtle had no idea
"The authors of a new study believe it's a newborn great white."
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/29/americas/first-sighting-of-newborn-gr...
"A lone orca killed a great white in less than two minutes."
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/africa/orca-kills-great-white-shark-s...
Hello Sprout
Starboard ( his fin droops ) took 2 minutes to get the small GW ( 2-3 meters and a 30kg tasty liver ( sounds 2 big ) ) .
A 4 meter GW body was washed up nearby , 2 .
A marine Researcher who witnessed the event was distraught , as she Studies GW's .
Thought they already had enough problems with Humans killing them and didn't LIKE Starboard being TOP of the food chain .
I get her point but would still like Starboard to Come to Oz and teach our Orca's a thing or 2 .
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-04/great-white-shark-washes-up-kings...
That's nuts @CDC. Right on the town beach too.
That thing at Kingy is nuts!!!
I'm always weary along that stretch during winter, but I've also always told myself that the water is too warm up here at this time of year for large Whites.
Obviously I was wrong and they're always here! Or maybe its in the condition that its in because it shouldn't be this far north this time of year???? Maybe its condition drove it to warmer waters???
Who knows, but f*ck there goes my false sense of security during summer.
They always around mate. Cold water thing is a fallacy. Although there seems to be more sightings in winter that could correlate with the whale migration north.
Got a mate who saw the thing. Reckons he won't be surfing for at least a month. But he suffers chronic para-noah at the best of times. He's struggling with actually seeing one in the flesh so close.
Is “something sinister “ the correct vernacular
tubey
Para-noah sounds a dreadful affliction 4 a surfer 2 suffer from .
Sounds fn catchy 2 .
Put the guy into Quarantine , down here and Leave him here at the Heads, a few days .
He will come home cured , 4 sure , probably .
Dunno, but a week or 3 in your wave pool might be the ticket :)
That's a beast of a shark
I remember seeing one that size close up at the Point Turton jetty when a bunch of fisho lads where sleeping overnight on the jetty back in the days when you could do that.
What stuck with me was the girth and mass of the beast, massive!!
Can't help but wonder if it's been sick for a while and preying on easy targets up there.
Fits the size description.
Their livers are a third their body mass. So they're basically a liver, some fins and a big bitey head all covered in muscle, weapons.
Beached itself directly in front of the brand new lobster farm water supply / waste pump station.
Pretty fortunate that the east swell had given up so there was no one surfing.
Will be interesting to see what the necropsy turns up.
It was certainly a freak event. No visible signs of injury.
I hear DPI are checking Mick Fannings knuckles for cuts and abrasions.
couple days ago...probably the same shark
GREAT WHITE
3undefined length
Maddox Pitchers
Distance from Shore
20undefined
Type of encounter
surfing
Location
Salt Beach (Kingscliff)
Weather Condition
cloudy small surf and hagfish clean waters
Was surfing a casual wave at Casuarina when I looked down to see a 3.5 meter white shark below me, swimming through the gutters. Don't know how I got away quickly paddled in and went home.