Brett Smith for
redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
New research
in the Journal
of Marine Biology revealed previously unknown details about Great
White sharks that roam the waters surrounding Hawaii
“This study is
valuable in that it provides a better understanding of the biology
and behavior of white sharks, which is very useful for management
purposes,” said co-author William
Aila, chairperson of the State of Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural
Resources. “White sharks were caught by pre-contact Hawaiians, and their teeth
used in weapons and other implements. But in many ways they continue to mystify
us today.”
According to
the researchers, their study showed previously unknown habits and behaviors of
the deadly and often misunderstood predators.
Most notably,
the team found female white sharks visit Hawaii
on a two-year reproductive cycle, during which they return to coastal sites
near California and Mexico Hawaii
“Male and
female white sharks have different migration patterns,” explained
co-author Kevin Weng of the University of Hawaii – Manoa’s
School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). “Males have
been recorded in Hawai’i
“We learned
that white sharks occur in Hawai’i
In the study,
the authors analyzed information from a range of sources, including verified
shark sightings, catch-and-release records, images from various sources, and
satellite tracking data. They excluded any instances where the species could
not be definitively confirmed as a white shark.
The
researchers noted their findings are consistent with another recent study in
the journal Animal
Biotelemetry.
While
satellite tracking technology has added to the recent advances in studying
shark behavior, it has left many questions unanswered.
“Our satellite
tracking studies have been conducted in places where we can get very close to
the animals – seal colonies – but this means that we may be sampling a subset
of the population, and thus obtaining biased results,” Weng said. “It is possible
that there are individuals that do not aggregate around seal colonies.”
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