First Few days of 2020

Thanks to the donations received so far, we have been able to start going out to look for sharks. On our first trip to the Farallones, we saw 3 sharks! The first shark of the season we saw was an 8 ft female, which is unusual because the white sharks at the Farallones usually range in size from 13 - 18 ft. This is the first time we have seen this shark, therefore she is a new addition to our database.

The second shark we saw was a 13 ft female that seen at Ano Nuevo Island last year. It will be interesting to see if she stays at the Farallones this season or if she moves around and will also visit Ano Nuevo again this year.

Finally, the last shark we saw was a 17 ft male we have seen several times since 2006! In 2006, we estimated him to be 16 ft in length, just a little shorter 14 years ago, giving us some idea on how slow these animals grow. Additionally, the 14-year span of seeing this specific shark gives us confidence that the dorsal fin pattern is maintained and can be used to identify white shark individuals over time.
We also document any scarring or marks on the sharks we see. White sharks are well known to have an incredible ability to heal from wounds inflicted by other sharks, bites from elephant seals, boat propellers, etc... This large male shark has obviously been in some kind of altercation with another white shark as you can see from the half-moon shaped bites on the side of his head. These bites happened months ago as they are mostly healed.

We will continue going out weather permitting and documenting our interactions with these important predators. Thank you all so much for the contributions you have made to make this research possible!