FILE: New study shows swimmers are encountering sharks near California coast California State University Long Beach Shark Lab director Dr. Chris Lowe spoke with FOX Weather about a new study that reveals great white sharks are swimming closer to swimmers without their knowledge. For the first time, humans have glimpsed a live newborn great white shark, potentially solving an age-old mystery, according to research from the University of California, Riverside. “The birthplace of white sharks is one of the holy grails of shark science. No one has been able to pinpoint where they are born, nor has anyone seen a live newborn baby shark,” wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna said in a statement. “There have been dead white sharks found inside deceased pregnant mothers. But nothing like this.” The filmmakers and a biology doctoral student discovered an unusual shark while filming off the coast of Santa Barbara, California in July 2023. The shark, identified as a great white pup, was entirely white instead of gray on the top. “We enlarged the images, put them in slow motion, and realized the white layer was being shed from the body as it was swimming,” Phillip Sternes, University of California Riverside biology doctoral student said in the statement. “I believe it was a newborn white shark shedding its embryonic layer.” The pair identified the nearly 5-foot long shark as a great white pup by its size and rounded fins, similar to embryos previously discovered. The paper suggests that it was only hours to days old. The white substance could have been uterine milk which mother sharks produce to feed the embryos. The usual gray became evident after the layer sloughed off. Previous research indicated that large adult female sharks give birth off the coast between Santa Barbara and Baja California, Mexico in late summer and early fall. The paper referred to the area as a “critical nursing habitat” for white sharks. That area is also where the smallest known free-living white shark was caught in 2019. It was about 3.5 feet long with similar rounded fins. “There are a lot of hypothetical areas, but despite intense interest in these sharks, no one’s seen a birth or a newborn pup in the wild,” Sternes said. “This may well be the first evidence we have of a pup in the wild, making this a definitive birthing location.” The pair, as well as other researchers, witnessed large, mature white sharks off Santa Barbara that day and for the two days prior. “I filmed three very large sharks that appeared pregnant at this specific location in the days prior. On this day, one of them dove down, and not long afterwards, this fully white shark appears,” Gauna said. “It’s not a stretch to deduce where the baby came from.” The paper said an alternative explanation would be that the shark pup had a skin disorder that had never been reported or seen before this video. “Nevertheless, in either case, the use of the aerial drone has provided shark science with another interesting set of information,” the paper reads. “Therefore, future drone observations of sharks in this area will greatly improve our knowledge and understanding of white shark life history.” The great white is the world’s largest predator fish. They can grow up to 4,000-7,000 pounds and 16–20 feet long, according to the World Wildlife Fund. As large and powerful predators, great white sharks play a significant role at the top of the marine food chain. Despite its fame and reputation, little is actually known about the great white shark’s biology and behavior. Gestation for white sharks is about 12 months. After that, scientists surmise that anywhere from 2 to 17 pups are born live. The species is classified as vulnerable worldwide.
