People often find it hard to estimate the number of great white sharks because they live deep under the ocean. The only way we can estimate their population is by using surveys and tagging data.
Great white shark populations have dropped drastically since 1996, according to a study published in the journal Marine Policy. It was found that white shark numbers in the waters of South Africa, Australia, California, Mexico, and the Atlantic coast. The study was conducted by researchers at Stony Brook University’s Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, Monash University in Victoria, and Stanford University.
What Are Great White Sharks?
Great white sharks are known as apex predators. This is because they are at the top of the food chain where no animal hunts them. They are also territorial animals, meaning they do not migrate like most other fish species. When you put these two factors together it makes sense why their population is so low. One female shark can bear between 9 and 14 pups a year. However, they usually die within a week of birth.
Estimated Great White Shark Population
Researchers have estimated that there are around 2,500 to 3,500 white sharks left in the wild off the South African coastline. This number falls well below their recovery goal of 5,000 individuals.
In addition to this, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco recently conducted their own study. They found that there are 2,000 to 3,500 white sharks in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
As mentioned earlier we cannot see these animals clearly and could only estimate their population by using surveys and tagging data. Tagging is when scientists attach a device to the shark’s dorsal fin which stores all sorts of information such as location and water temperature.
Don’t worry, they don’t use anything harmful; it only weighs a few ounces and it falls off after a few months or can be ‘shed’ by the animal if it is not comfortable having it on.
