The 411 on the great white shark

The 66-year-old triathlete who was killed by a shark Friday off the San Diego County coast was probably attacked by a great white, according to experts.

Great white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, are named for their appearance -- a white underside on a body that can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh 5,000 pounds, with teeth as sharp as knives.

Major worldwide concentrations of these sharks are located off the California and New England coasts in the U.S. as well as South Africa and Australia and in the Mediterranean. Some observers estimate that great whites live 30 to 100 years, according to researchers with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory conservation science program in Northern California.

Studies have shown that great white attacks most often occur in the morning, within two hours after sunrise, because it's difficult to see a shark close to the ocean bottom at that time.

The predatory success rate following such attacks is 55% in the first two hours but falls to 40% in late morning; after that, the sharks stop hunting altogether, marine biologists R. Aidan Martin and Anne Martin wrote in Natural History magazine in 2006.

But Dennis Long, who teaches in the department of biology at St. Mary's College and has studied sharks for years, said the media sensationalized great white attacks and gave the animals a bad rap.

"Although the species is responsible for an average of two to three nonfatal attacks on swimmers, surfers and divers each year, its role as a menace is exaggerated; more people are killed in the U.S. each year by dogs than have been killed by white sharks in the last 100 years," Long writes on his website.

For more on these complex creatures, check out this recent Times report.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[George Probst]

It's refreshing to see an article that is informative and offers perspective on how the great white is unfairly portrayed by the media. That being said, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of David Martin who passed away tragically in this morning's shark attack.

[Mariah Londay]

Dear Los Angeles Times,
I also agree that shark attacks are very over exaturated. I think that as soon as a shark attack happens, the media trys to make a big deal of it which is not needed, no offense to any one of you. Fatal shark attacks rarely occur, unlike everyone makes it out to be. I also think that most attacks happen because we are invading their habitats( feeding grounds for that matter) and they really are very confused and misunderstand you for a fish or other prey. That may not ALWAYS be the case, but i think that in most, it is. No, offense to the loved ones of the triathelete, it is very unfortunate to hear of these attacks, but i am just saying that in all cases i don't believe the sharks know that you are a human with a life and a family to get to, and if they take a bite out of you they are ruining that. I also think that swimmers need to be very percautious. That being, don't swim late at night, or early in the morning. Or not going in the ocean past your waist ( keep in mind that their are sharks that can devour your foot in upper-ankle deep water). And if you choose to go deep in the ocean, just watch for large shadows in waves or swimming along the shore. Also watch out all you fishers out there. I know if you are deep sea fisher, you are probably aware of sharks. That is another dangerous thing that you should be percautious of incase of accidental attack. And recently i watched a show( im not going to mention the name of for obvious reasons) but the man was being REDICULOUSLY insane....... don't try this at home. He literally searched for days for the biggest Great White he could find, a female (if i remember correctly) and he dove into the ocean without wearing any protective gear, after luring it with bait to the small boat. He grabbed a hold of the sharks fin and rode on its back. He made it very angry....... as you would guess... and it almost took a limb off. That was obsurd! But at the same time, very amusing, in a way, Just to see the sharks reaction. Well, that is all i really have to discuss about this topic, so thanks for listening.

[Steve in Japan]

The media does like to blow things out of proportion to help their ratings. Even though they making a bigger deal out of this than it should be, at least we have more knowledge about events like this and can be cautious to help prevent anything bad happening to us. For example "Studies have shown that great white attacks most often occur in the morning, within two hours after sunrise" tells me it's safer to wait at least 2 hours after the sun goes up to hit the waves.

[C. Kenyon]

I may agree that the movie Jaws and the media have given sharks a bad wrap, and that your statistics may be correct - that more American's are killed by dogs in a year than by sharks in 100 years - but I think that's a bit misleading.

The number of of people in waters where sharks live each year is certainly an insignificant number when compared to the number of human / dog contacts each year in American. Thus making the odds of being killed by a dog a better bet. Do the math on that one, and then we can talk.

[T. E. Pierett]

Yes, but people are around dogs a lot more than they are around sharks. Put 300,000,000 million Ameicans in the ocean each morning and you'll see the sharks take the lead in the number of deadly attacks.

[Whaley]

Yes, sharks, like Barack Obama, are treated so unfairly by the press. They need to give them a break.

[Jonas Collier]

well, mr. statistician, just ask this question, 'wouldn't you rather be in a room next to a dog than in the same vicinity of a great white'??? then u realize that nothin's exaggerated about great whites..they are killing machines and most dogs' barks are bigger than their bites, and as mentioned by two earlier posts, statistics cannot do justice on comparing fatalities caused by dogs and those caused by g.w. sharks...they throw you to a great white, you're dead, they throw you to a dog you can still defend yourself and live to tell another doggie tale..

[Cathie]

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the 66 year old man but when you enter the ocean you put your life at risk. Sharks live in the ocean. If someone enters your home you are going to do whatever it takes to protect yourself. Sharks are no different. Sharks are not "maneaters". This was a classic case of mistaken identity. Swimming on top of the water in a wet suit you look and act like a seal. And this attack was the typical great white shark maneuver, attacked from below with such force to lift him out of the water and then swim away. If this would have been it's normal prey the shark would have come back and devoured it. I really believe great white sharks need protection throughtout the entire world. They have survived millions of years and are a necessary part of the oceanic system.

[M. Y.]

It's true that shark bites are rare but comparing them to mortality from dog bites is silly. Unless most people are keeping white sharks an average of ten years in their living and bed rooms as household pets and I didn't know about it.

[SANDIE]

THE OCEAN IS THE SHARKS HABITAT AND WE AS HUMAN BEINGS ARE INVADING IT BY SWIMMING IN THIER HOME ARE WE NOT? I BELIEVE WE ARE. SO WE PUT OURSELVES IN THAT PREDICAMENT BY SWIMMING WITH ANIMALS THAT CAN KILL US. SORRY, BUT GOD PUT THESE CREATURES ON THE PLANET FOR SOME REASON AND IM PRETTY SURE HE PLANS TO KEEP THEM HERE FOR AWHILE. SO STOP YOUR BICKERING AND GET OVER IT. HAVE SOME SYMPATHY FOR THE VICTIMS FAMILY AND STOP BLOWING THINGS OUT OF PROPORTION LIKE YOU SAID THE GOVERNMENT DOES.

[pat]

C. Kenyon, actually, most beaches are in shark infested waters. In fact, there are sharks around every beach in the world. So the number of people swimming in shark infested waters in roughly half of the human population. Probably about the same as dogs cause not everyone has dogs, especially in third world countries. So, you are most definately completely 100% wrong on the idea