does the great white shark home in on fish feed grow

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Reference: “Ontogenetic and Among-Individual Variation in Foraging Strategies of Northeast Pacific White Sharks Based on Stable Isotope Analysis” by Sora L. By being flexible with their diets, great white sharks may lessen competition with their own kind.įurther isotopic studies and satellite tracking programs are needed to help marine biologists better understand the great white shark. Competition could be the key to determining the individual diets of sharks. This study raises new questions about the biology of the great white shark. Some preferred marine mammals located near shore, but others were more flexible in their foraging approaches. Many of the Pacific great white sharks sampled were generalists who took varying prey in different locations.

Some sharks showed no difference between juvenile and adult diets but others showed large variations, shifting from a diet of fish and small prey to marine mammals and other more substantial fare at about age four. Once they are matched, researchers can reconstruct an animal’s diet.Ĭontrary to assertions that pinnipeds are a great white shark staple food, the sharks sampled in this study showed a highly variable diet. There is a correspondence between certain carbon isotope ratios and particular food sources. As animals feed, chemical tracers in the form of carbon and nitrogen isotopes are incorporated into their teeth and bones.

This technique has been used previously to outline the diet of other creatures. Sora Kim, from the University of Wyoming and colleagues, used chemical clues in great white shark vertebrae to track the different feeding preferences among individuals, between 19. Scientists published their findings in the journal PLoS ONE. When they are juveniles, they seek out a wider variety of foods before culminating into the more well-known options. It might seem that Carcharodon carcharias choose seals and sea lions as their preferred prey, but studies indicate that great white sharks consume different prey based upon their age, size and location. Credit: Photo by Terry Goss, image from Wikipedia

Does the great white shark home in on fish feed grow