What’s the biggest shark you’ve filmed off the California coast?
Where are they?
Those are questions folks ask me often.
While it’s true that most sharks I film are juvenile, it must be acknowledged that
some of the biggest sharks in the world live right here off the California coast.
I’ve changed my method of searching for white sharks a bit this month.
And here’s the result.
This is what appears to be a pregnant white shark.
Filmed just last week, it’s not your run of the mill juvenile white shark.
This is a tank.
Immediately you can see the difference between this and the juvenile white sharks I’m so
used to filming.
Notice the girth.
Finding a shark that is perhaps pregnant is a major victory for me as an observer.
It is widely known that perhaps the largest mystery of all, when it comes to white sharks,
is where exactly do they give birth?
To this day, scientists have never witnessed a birth nor has it been definitely proven
where white sharks actually do.
They have also never been documented mating.
Which is pretty amazing considering how much we do know about white sharks.
But no matter how big the females get, they are hard to spot.
When searching for them I can see why.
They are incredibly adept at hiding themselves, mainly due to their colouration, which makes
them difficult to make out from above and below – and they’re also known to retreat
to very deep water, where they’re almost impossible to track.
But I was lucky on this day, be it just for a few minutes, before this giant disappeared
to the depths below.
It is thought, that the large amount of juvenile white sharks in nurseries across Southern
California may indicate that they might have birthed somewhere nearby.
I’m on a quest to find those clues and to find more adult white sharks.
There is no shortage of adults on our coast.
And while the juvenile sharks provide me with the interesting moments, moments like this,
it’s the mystery of where the adults leave their young, that is the holy grail of white
shark research.
The juveniles seem to be here year round now, with new ones arriving all the time.
It is believed that these sharks are being born somewhere deep off the California coast,
but nobody knows for sure.
What we do know is that this beautiful shoreline is vital to the great white shark population
on the west coast.
But there is something I know for sure.
It’s that these juvenile white sharks constantly keep me in awe.
Especially when I see them in what I used to believe was the unlikeliest of places.
Kelp beds.
The following is a collection of footage from the last few weeks of white sharks cruising
through and around kelp beds.
The footage is some of the most beautiful white shark activity I’ve ever filmed.
Perhaps it’s the contrast of the gray and white against the green forest that draws
me in.
Whatever it is, it’s natural beauty and these are moments that really make me appreciate
the ocean even more.
Watching them weave through this loose forest of kelp may be very telling about where these
sharks find comfort.
My question as an observer, what brings these white sharks to the areas of kelp in Southern
California?
It’s actually not too hard to guess why.
This may all have to do with the predator prey relationships that exist here.
The forests are rich in food, mainly fish, rays, and leopard sharks.
All of which are on the shark menu.
But can it be that simple?
We are all so used to seeing white sharks in open water, but some of these scenes seem
almost surreal.
I’ve never seen the moment a shark attacks its prey, but I have seen the aftermath.
While it’s true that predation events are inherently rare and difficult to observe in
marine environments, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
Just spotting a shark among the kelp beds is a challenge, let alone one attacking prey.
But do they really go into the kelp?
Previous studies showed that great whites usually hunt along the edges of kelp forests
at dusk and dawn, when the sun isn't too bright.
They do this so the predators can ambush prey arriving and leaving the refuge.
It is evident however, that in Southern California, these sharks are very comfortable navigating
around kelp.
Going both above and beneath kelp stockings.
You’ll notice how green the water is in some areas of southern california.
This is because it is cold, full of nutrients, and phytoplankton is plentiful.
The more phytoplankton in the water, the greener the water will look.
The contrast of the kelp, the water, and the sharks is breathtaking.
Just watch the beauty of this shark glide over this kelp stocking.
Or this one as it chooses the path under instead.
But how often do sharks go through kelp forests?
It may be more often that thought.
A study at the Dyer Island Marine Reserve in South Africa in 2014 documented extensive
and repeated use of kelp forests by white sharks, and their use of them in predator–prey
interactions within.
This is perhaps one of my favorite recent sequences.
Watch as this shark goes just beneath the kelp.
As it changes direction, the kelp’s shadow grazes the top of this shark.
I continue to follow this shark but then it speeds up.
It changes direction and begins to surface.
So I move the drone accordingly to capture this activity.
To get the right angle.
And right here, the fin actually touches the kelp.
For a moment, I thought it would drag it.
It’s such a simple, yet beautiful moment.
Something usually not seen in sensationalized shark shows on TV.
But it is beautiful in it’s natural form without external stimuli.
And it proves that sometimes white sharks do make contact with the kelp.
But again, I’m left with the evergoing question of “why?”
. Does the answer even really matter?
These creatures hold so much intrigue, that the journey to find them is just as challenging
as finding the answers themselves.
In the meantime, we can just sit back and enjoy it.