“I’m without words it’s heartwarming she’s probably the most gentle great white I’ve ever seen. She was especially thrilled because, based on the shark’s size and markings, she tentatively identified her as Deep Blue, a shark she has swum with on research trips to Guadalupe Island, Mexico. These guys wouldn’t leave her alone - they were having so much fun.” “There were two rough-tooth dolphins escorting her, nudging on her fins, twirling around her nose. One thing that surprised Ramsey was the presence of dolphins, who usually avoid great whites. Hunger and need for nutrients in pregnancy may have explained the shark’s presence in Hawaii, where, one theory has it, pregnant great whites follow whales. Not only that but “She looks like she may be pregnant: She’s shockingly wide,” Ramsey said. And this individual, she added, was rarer still given her record size, which Ramsey estimated as more than 20 feet long and eight feet high. Great white sharks, classified as a vulnerable species, are rare in Hawaii, where the water is too warm compared with the cold Pacific coast of California where they feed on sea lions and elephant seals, Ramsey said. We went out at sunrise, and she stayed with us pretty much throughout the day.” “She was just this big beautiful gentle giant wanting to use our boat as a scratching post. “We saw a few tigers and then she came up and all the other sharks split, and she started brushing up against the boat,” Ramsey said in a phone interview that evening, her voice trembling with exhilaration and exhaustion after swimming with the shark all day. 15, Ramsey and her team had taken their dive boat to monitor tiger sharks feeding off a dead and decomposing sperm whale that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had towed 15 miles offshore from Sand Island, where it had lain against the shoreline, attracting sharks, when, to her astonishment, the female great white appeared. The carcass of the sperm whale attracted this shark to the surface, she said.The surprise arrival at the feast was big and regal and as wide as your grandmother’s hot rod Lincoln, and when she cruised onto the scene the other diners fled - as was only natural, for she was a great white shark, said Ocean Ramsey, who studies sharks, advocates for their conservation and leads educational, cage-free shark diving tours on Oahu’s North Shore. According to Melanie Hutchinson, a shark researcher for the University of Hawaii, they typically stick to deeper waters when in the area. Great white sharks are rarely seen in Hawaiian waters, as they prefer cooler seas. Deep Blue was last seen in Mexico in 2013. Initial reports indicated the shark was Deep Blue, who was tagged 20 years ago and is believed to be 50 years old. “These guys wouldn’t leave her alone - they were having so much fun.” ![]() “There were two rough-tooth dolphins escorting her, nudging on her fins, twirling around her nose,” she said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |