Chasing the oceans alone and appearing out of nowhere to attack their prey, great white sharks are among the most feared predators in the world.
But a new study shows they actually have a softer side: they have been found to strike up friendships and stick together while on patrol.
Information about the social life of great white sharks came from experts at Florida International University who tracked six sharks off the coast of Mexico.
Gathering around Guadalupe Island seasonally, they found that the sharks had teamed up to check on the seal colonies, with some of them spending more than an hour together.
Sociable: New research shows great white sharks actually have a softer side, as they have been found to make friends and stick together while on patrol (file image)
Dinner or swim? Great whites confuse people with seals because they are colorblind.
Great whites are often portrayed as ruthless killers of humans, but a study published last year found that shark attack victims are simply being misidentified.
Researchers from Sydney said that sharks do not attack people on purpose, but confuse them with seals because they are color blind and cannot distinguish colors.
A study has shown that vicious sea animals can confuse people with their natural prey – seals – because they look the same when viewed from below.
Experts from Australia have used “shark vision” to see what seals and people on surfboards look like when they look up at the silhouette on the surface of the water.
They did this by skillfully manipulating footage of swimming people and seals the way a shark would see them.
The researchers concluded that sharks likely confuse the oval surfboard with the body of a seal, and human arms and legs with the limbs of a seal.
They are completely colorblind or, at best, have only limited color perception and therefore have difficulty distinguishing colors.
Lead author Dr. Yiannis Papastamatiou of Florida International University (FIU) said: “Most of the associations were short.
“But there were sharks that we found significantly longer associations, much more likely that they were social associations.
“Seventy minutes is a long time to swim with another white shark.”
Great whites can reach 22 feet in length and weigh more than 2.5 tons – with killer whales their only rival in the food chain. They can travel through water at speeds up to 15 miles per hour.
Dr Papastamatiou said: “Understanding the social dynamics of large marine predators in the wild is challenging.
“We tagged white sharks off the coast of Mexico, which measured behavior and time spent with other tagged sharks.
“We have shown that sharks can form strong associations – for days – with some people.
“But there are a lot of differences between sharks in terms of how sociable they are and how they behave.
“Sharks can stay close to other individuals if those individuals manage to kill large prey.
“Biologization may begin to reveal the secrets of the social life of great sharks.”
For four years, six great whites were followed – three males and three females.
The data showed that, for the most part, sharks preferred to be in groups with members of their own sex.
But there were also many differences between predators: one shark, which held its mark for only 30 hours, had one of the highest association counts: 12 in all.
Another wore the tag for five days but only spent time with two other sharks.
The great whites also had other hunting tactics; some were active in shallow water, while others preferred to stay deeper in water.
There were also some sharks that were more active during the day and others at night.
The difficulty of the hunt was captured in a video analyzed by FIU student Seiko Hosoki.
It showed a tortoise and a sea lion separately dodging a stalking large white sheep.
Dr. Papastamatiou said: “This is not unique to white sharks as predators often fail when hunting.”
The researchers believe that this is why the formation of social associations may be so important, because it increases the ability to take advantage of another shark’s hunting success.
Dr. Papastamatiou said: “An important question that we have yet to answer is what is the reason for the social activity of these sharks?
“We still don’t know. But it is likely that they can stay close to other individuals if these individuals manage to kill large prey.
“They don’t work together, but communication can be a way to share information.”
Guadeloupe is teeming with tuna and seals, making it a popular destination for big white fish.
The blue and clear waters are different from the darker areas around South Africa or Australia, where they set up insidious ambushes.
Prey and predator can easily see each other, which is why it was chosen as a place to study great whites.
Dr. Papastamatiou said: “Usually studying such enigmatic animals usually involves some form of tracker.
“We knew we were going to need a much bigger and better tag.”
Gathering around Guadalupe Island (pictured) seasonally, the researchers found sharks teaming up to check on seal colonies, with some of them spending more than an hour together.
Therefore, the researchers combined various commercially available technologies into a “super social tag”.
He collected data for five days before ripping off a shark’s dorsal fin and resurfacing.
The device was equipped with a video camera and a set of sensors that recorded a variety of movements, including changes in acceleration, depth, direction, and even how fast the shark turned while swimming.
Dr. Papastamatiou said: “The social significance of this tag was attached to special receivers that could detect other tagged sharks nearby.”
They had previously been tracked over the years by study co-author Dr. Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla of Fins Attached Marine Research and Conservation in Colorado Springs.
About three dozen of them appeared in another great white man’s supersocial tag.
The study adds to the evidence that great whites make non-random friendships and also sheds light on when they happen.
The researchers hope to someday use the same special tags to track sharks for longer periods of time, such as weeks or even years.
“Technology can now really unlock the mystery of these animals’ lives,” Dr. Papastamatiou said.
“We are not limited to tracking where they are and where they are going. As technology improves, we will be able to answer more questions.”
The study is published in the journal Biology Letters.
WHAT DOES GREAT GREAT SHARK DNA TELL US?
The great white shark genome has finally been deciphered and it could hold the key to discovering a cure for cancer.
The genome is much larger than that of humans and contains many mutations that protect against cancer and other age-related diseases.
It contains approximately 4.63 billion “base pairs,” the chemical units of DNA, making it one and a half times larger than its human counterpart.
There are about 24,500 protein-coding genes in the great white shark’s DNA, compared to 19,000–20,000 in the average human.
Great white sharks, which are up to 20 feet (six meters) long and weigh up to three tons, are ancient giants that have lived on Earth for at least 16 million years.
The animal’s genetic code also gives them accelerated wound healing, allowing them to recover from severe illnesses.
Experts believe that the great white sheep’s genome has become stable and resistant to disease and could play a key role in developing future therapies.