Page 43 - World of Animals - Book of Sharks & Ocean Predators

Great white sharks
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The importance of hierarchy

Not just colossal hunting machines, great whites have intricate social lives and family bonds
Marine biologists are only scratching the which in turn helps to avoid confl ict. Despite organs in its snout, a great white can sense
surface when it comes to understanding how having a reputation for being stone-cold tiny amounts of blood in the water up to fi ve

great whites tick. As solitary fish, there’s some killers, they aren’t keen to fight one another. kilometres (three miles) away. They have also
social hierarchy when individuals meet. In areas In terms of hierarchy, the larger the shark, the been witnessed raising their heads several feet
with regular populations, large groups gather higher its rank; similarly, residents come before out of the water, and some think that this is to
at certain times of year. These gatherings aren’t newcomers and females before males. When get a sniff of scents in the air.
fully understood, but coincide with the boom many sharks gather, competition for prey can The sharks must keep swimming to stay

of seal populations. Around this time, young be fierce, so the sharks in some areas appear alive, moving a flow of water over their gills

great white sharks will hang back from large to reduce conflict by respecting boundaries. to keep oxygen pumping. It’s not known how

kills to let the larger and older sharks take the When it comes to hunting, ambush is the they sleep, but some have been seen moving
lion’s share. Physical gestures have shown that method of choice. Hunting behaviour relies on slowly, or even being stationary in gullies. By
body language is also used to communicate. a potent mix of precision and effi ciency and facing their heads into the current, they’re able
Most social interaction between great the sharks use their developed brains and keen to catch a breather between mouthfuls as the
whites seems to be in order to establish rank, senses to hone in on their prey. Using the scent water passes into their gills.
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