coolmelbourne.org

Let’s take it back a step and admit that the papers have got one thing right: one look at a photo of a Great White will convince you of it’s worthiness as a member of the ‘really-bloody-scary’ club. They are big animals, reaching lengths of up to 6 metres and weighing up to 3,000 kg.

They also have big mouths with lots of teeth. And their mouths open very, very wide. They have cold, staring, black eyes. And they are fast. And strong. And they are much more adept in the water than any human will ever be.

But look at them from another angle and they have a smile. And a gentle inquisitiveness. And fantastic cruise control. They are impressive and beautiful sea creatures.

They are also one of the oldest creatures on our planet, living fossils in fact. They have been around on this planet for far longer than us, perhaps even up to 350 million years (they must be doing something right to have lasted that long). We don’t mean that that great ‘killer’ that you’ll see on the news in summer is 15 million years old. In fact, it is unlikely anyone will be able to tell you how old that one is because so little is known about these sharks. They – the scientists who study sharks – believe that the biggest ones that we see on the news might be about 15 to 25 years old, but no one really knows. It turns out that Great White’s are a massively understudied species.

We know very little about their breeding cycle. Scientists believe that female White Pointers may produce between five and ten young (pups) which are 1.2 to 1.5 metres long at birth and can weigh up to 32 kg. It is believed that these pups are fully developed and totally self-sufficient at birth. But do we know how these creatures breed? No.

Likewise, we know very little about their distribution or movements. In Australia, Great Whites have been recorded from Moreton Bay in Queensland, around the south coast of Australia, and over to West Cape in Western Australia. In other parts of the world they have been observed in temperate and sub-tropical waters. To this end various projects are currently underway to monitor their movements hopefully find out more about these marvellous creatures (click here to visit WhiteTag).