Great white sharks hunt victims, study finds

[Heracles 417]

Great white sharks hunt victims, study finds

June 22, 2009 - 4:19PM

Great white sharks have some things in common with human serial killers, a new study says: They don't attack at random, but stalk specific victims, lurking out of sight.

The sharks hang back and observe from a not-too-close, not-too-far base, hunt strategically, and learn from previous attempts, according to a study being published online today in the Journal of Zoology.

Researchers used a serial killer profiling method to figure out just how the fearsome ocean predator hunts, something that's been hard to observe beneath the surface.

"There's some strategy going on," said study co-author Neil Hammerschlag, a shark researcher at the University of Miami who observed 340 great white shark attacks on seals off an island in South Africa. "It's more than sharks lurking at the water waiting to go after them."

The sharks feeding at Seal Island could have just hovered right where the seals congregated if they were random killers-of-opportunity, Hammerschlag said. But they weren't.

The sharks had a distinct mode of operation.

They were focused. They stalked from a usual base of operations, 90 metres from their victims. It was close enough to see their prey, but not close enough to be seen and scare off their victims. They attacked when the lights were low. They liked their victims young and alone. They tried to attack when no other sharks were around to compete. They learned from previous kills.

And they attacked from below, unseen.

There's a big difference between great white sharks and serial killers and it comes down to motive. The great whites attack to eat and survive, not for thrills. And great whites are majestic creatures that should be saved, Hammerschlag said.

"They both have the same objective, which is to find a target or prey or victim," said study co-author D Kim Rossmo, a professor of criminal justice at Texas State University-San Marcos. "They have to lurk. They want to be efficient in their search."

The human criminal has to worry about being caught by police and thus is even more careful, said Rossmo, who was a police officer for more than 21 years in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The entire shark-serial killer connection is something right out of a crime novel.

R Aidan Martin, a Canadian shark researcher who has since died, was reading a mystery that detailed the relatively new field of geographic profiling, which tries to find criminals by looking for patterns in where they strike. He connected with Rossmo, a pioneer in that criminal field, and they applied the work of tracking down criminals to sleuthing shark strategy.

Martin and Hammerschlag watched sharks from sunrise to sunset, applied the "fancy math" of geographic profiling and came out with plots that showed there was some real stalking going on, Hammerschlag said.

Older sharks did better and were more stealthy than younger, smaller sharks, demonstrating that learning was occurring, he said.

The study focused on just one location, but the same principles are likely to be applied to other shark hunting grounds. They can't really apply to shark attacks on people because those are so infrequent, Hammerschlag said. But if you could figure out the base of operations for the great whites, it would give you a good idea of places to avoid if you were worried about shark attacks, he said.

Other animals, such as lions, also reveal strategies in their hunting, Hammerschlag said. Land animals have been observed more easily from the air or elsewhere on the ground.

University of Florida shark attack researcher George Burgess, who had no role in the study, said the researchers simply used a new tool to show what scientists pretty much knew all ready: "Sharks are like many other predators that have developed patterns to their attacking that are obviously beneficial as a species."

AP

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/world/great-white...90622-ctke.html

[Ban Hammer 13,771]

They were focused. They stalked from a usual base of operations, 90 metres from their victims. It was close enough to see their prey, but not close enough to be seen and scare off their victims. They attacked when the lights were low. They liked their victims young and alone.

sounds more like a pedophile

[NickD 203]

Is that victims or lunch they are seeking?

We raise cattle, sheep, pigs, turkeys, chickens, fish, etc. If you pay close attention, all look a little bit different, and all have very unique personalities. Each is one of a kind. But that doesn't stop us, we slaughter and eat them, just like the sharks do.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Recycle of already-known info (GWS predatory, not simply opportunistic, favourite foods seals/sealions which can outmanoeuvre it--and has predation strategy for it)

[almaty 19]

those sharks need to be harpooned....

[Saddle Bronc 124]

those sharks need to be harpooned....

...Japanese and Chinese "fin" them (chop the fins off, after which shark sinks) which has led to most sharks being endangered.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

In Australia they are called Guppies and Aussies keep them in their pools as pets.

[almaty 19]

wow, those aussies are manly men, indeed

[Heracles 417]

In Australia they are called Guppies and Aussies keep them in their pools as pets.

touche touche

I was raised with baby great whites in the bath tub.

At first I thought I would miss them after moving here but they are everywhere here. The only difference is that in the United States they are classified as libs.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

In Australia they are called Guppies and Aussies keep them in their pools as pets.

touche touche

I was raised with baby great whites in the bath tub.

At first I thought I would miss them after moving here but they are everywhere here. The only difference is that in the United States they are classified as libs.

I thought they were generally termed "attorneys"

[one...two...tree 2,762]

In Australia they are called Guppies and Aussies keep them in their pools as pets.

touche touche

I was raised with baby great whites in the bath tub.

At first I thought I would miss them after moving here but they are everywhere here. The only difference is that in the United States they are classified as libs.

Flesh eating hippies? Sounds like a good game idea.

[Ban Hammer 13,771]

In Australia they are called Guppies and Aussies keep them in their pools as pets.

touche touche

I was raised with baby great whites in the bath tub.

At first I thought I would miss them after moving here but they are everywhere here. The only difference is that in the United States they are classified as libs.

Flesh eating hippies? Sounds like a good game idea.

i saw something like that on faces of death, some cult in cali that ate people, followed by an orgy afterward........

[one...two...tree 2,762]

In Australia they are called Guppies and Aussies keep them in their pools as pets.

touche touche

I was raised with baby great whites in the bath tub.

At first I thought I would miss them after moving here but they are everywhere here. The only difference is that in the United States they are classified as libs.

Flesh eating hippies? Sounds like a good game idea.

i saw something like that on faces of death, some cult in cali that ate people, followed by an orgy afterward........

You sure they weren't from the Ozarks? The closest thing we have out here to meat is called the Garden Burger.

[Ban Hammer 13,771]

In Australia they are called Guppies and Aussies keep them in their pools as pets.

touche touche

I was raised with baby great whites in the bath tub.

At first I thought I would miss them after moving here but they are everywhere here. The only difference is that in the United States they are classified as libs.

Flesh eating hippies? Sounds like a good game idea.

i saw something like that on faces of death, some cult in cali that ate people, followed by an orgy afterward........

You sure they weren't from the Ozarks? The closest thing we have out here to meat is called the Garden Burger.

quite certain. not sure which number of the faces of death series it was though.

[almaty 19]

??????? sounds like arkansas.