Great White Shark vs. Man

Today off our local California coast we had an unfortunate meeting of apex predator versus man. You can imagine who came out ahead...

There are many misconceptions concerning the great white shark, and a general attitude of fear that has been perpetuated by decades of bad press. To set the record straight, great whites are not man eaters as is so often been reported. They rely on fish and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) as their primary food source. When humans are thrown into the mix it is by accident.

Typical attacks on humans are surface related, where a human is lying, paddling or swimming on the surface and the shark attacks from beneath. The white shark, which typically attacks seals and sea lions (pinnipeds) from below, mistakes the silhouette of the human to be a seal or sea lion.

When a pinniped is attacked, the great white bites, spits and then waits for the animal to bleed out substantially before coming back to finish the job. This method is a self preserving tactic as most of the animals eaten by the white shark have the ability to inflict harm upon the attacker. Weaken the prey before coming back to finish it off.

This bite and spit action also allows the shark to determine if the prey is viable, high enough fatty tissue, or whether it should move on to look for another prey target. But they do not attack everything that looks like a seal or sea lion, as there is risk involved in every attack that could be detrimental to the health of the shark.

With this said, yes...the great white shark attacks humans. Based upon science and the many studies that have involved the behavioral patterns of the great white shark, the answer would be "No". White sharks do not intentionally attack humans.

Today's incident was very unfortunate. Our hearts go out to the family of the victim. But rest assured, you have a greater chance of getting into a deadly car accident than getting bitten by any shark, great white shark included, when venturing into the ocean.

The crew of Horizon Charters Dive & Eco Adventures hopes that a large scale shark hunt is not undertaken. The shark was only doing as it has been programmed to do for millions of years. We humans enter the food chain, knowing or not, every time we venture into the ocean. This is a fact, whether your snorkeling in Fiji or surfing California.

Please join us in shark education. Learn, listen and do your part to protect not only the great white shark, but every shark in the ocean.