Drone footage shot by wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna and UC Riverside biology doctoral student Phillip Sternes off the coast of Santa Barbara, California shows what might be the first ever newborn great white shark captured on film. Some more details about the rare sighting while I fondly remember the original Shark Bites gummy fruit snacks from my childhood:
Great whites are typically gray on top and white on the bottom, but the 5-foot-long shark the two spotted was pure white. This color is possibly because embryonic sharks feed on unfertilized eggs for protein and their mothers offer additional nourishment to the growing shark pups with a ‘milk’ secreted in the uterus.
Where white sharks give birth is one of the holy grails of shark science. No one has ever been able to pinpoint where they are born, nor has anyone seen a newborn baby shark alive. There have been dead white sharks found inside deceased pregnant mothers. But nothing like this,” said Carlos Gauna
Hey, there’s a first time for everything. Of course great white birth sightings will probably become much more common in the future as the polar ice caps melt and the oceans begin swallowing the continents and reclaim what was once theirs. I’ve seen Waterworld. Also, if you came here hoping to find out if great white sharks are born angry looking, the answer is yes.