Great White Sharks

Alex Re

Hello,

welcome to on wildlife. I'm your host, Alex Re. On this podcast, we bring the wild to you. We take you on a journey into the life of a different animal every week. And I guarantee you, you're gonna come out if you're knowing more about your favorite animal than you did before. This episode is gonna be a little different than usual, because we have our first ever interview with Kristen kibble house who works at the Atlantic white shark Conservancy in Massachusetts. I can't wait for you guys to hear the interview. But first, you might want to stay in the boat for this episode, because we're heading into the ocean to talk about the largest predatory fish in the world. great white sharks.

Unknown Speaker

So great white sharks live in coastal areas in almost every ocean in the world. And one of the most famous places to see a great white shark is in South Africa. Although great white sharks are the world's largest predatory fish, weighing in at over 2000 pounds, and growing to be around 15 feet long. They're actually not the largest shark in the world. That title goes to whale sharks who can be over 33 feet long and weigh over 40,000 pounds. But whale sharks aren't predatory. They mostly eat plankton, which are microscopic, great white sharks are carnivores. And it shows their teeth can get up to two and a half inches long. And although they only eat meat, they don't really have humans on their list of favorite foods. When they bite a human, it's usually to test whether they want to eat it or not. And that usually leads to them releasing the human. Their favorite thing to eat is probably seals or sea lions. Sharks are referred to as living fossils, because they've been around for a really, really long time. The oldest shark fossil dates back to around 400 million years ago. The first dinosaur fossils only date back to about 250 million years ago. And because sharks have been around for so long, they've had a lot of time on earth to adapt and evolve. One of the first things you'll notice about a great white shark is how it's shaped kind of like a torpedo. And this torpedo shape helps reduce surface area and the amount of friction that it has with the water. And this allows it to swim really, really fast. great white sharks can reach speeds up to 15 miles per hour. Speed is really important for chasing down prey. But what makes great white sharks such awesome predators is their sensory system. First of all, they have these cells called ambalaj of lorenzini in their snouts, and these cells can help sharks detect changes in electrical charges that are given off by animals around them. We actually also have ambalaj, but they're not the same as sharks. We have them in our ears, and they help send signals to the brain and inform it about head position and movement. Its function in sharks is helping them navigate through the ocean and detect prey. great white sharks also have ear stones in their ears. And these ear stones help orient the shark as to which direction it's facing, or if it's upside down. Now if a great white shark was trying to attack an animal that might fight back, they can actually roll their eyes back in order to protect them from getting injured. And a great white sharks eyes are really important to their survival. Their eyes have cones and rods just like humans do. But they are different because they have another layer behind their retina. And this extra layer helps them be extra sensitive to light. This adaptation is so important for sharks, because it can be extremely dark in certain areas of the ocean. Cats actually also have this adaptation, which is why both shark and cat eyes glow in the dark. Not only do they have the ability to sense electrical signals and see in the dark, they also have really good senses of smell. Great White Sharks have the largest olfactory bulb of any shark. And the olfactory bulb is what gives animals their sense of smell. Looking at all these adaptations, no wonder they're such great predators. Okay, so we're gonna take a little break. And when we get back, I'm going to start my interview with Christine kibble house who has a lot of things to say about great white sharks. Time for a trivia question. How fast can cheetahs run a 30 miles per hour? b 50 miles per hour, c 80 miles per hour, or D 100 miles per hour. The answer is C. 80 miles per hour.

Unknown Speaker

Hey, Kristen, how you doing?

Kristen Kibblehouse

Okay, how are you?

Unknown Speaker

I'm good. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I can't wait to talk with you about great white sharks. Thank you for having me. I'm excited. It's my first podcast. So that's awesome. Okay, so first just tell us a little bit about yourself.

Kristen Kibblehouse

So for me, I am originally from Pennsylvania. So for me and shark's was not a common thing from where I was from. So I was just always a shark lover. And, you know, just a kid that was always nerding out about sharks or talking about sharks and I was always dubbed to the odd one. But from that I went to Coastal Carolina University to major in marine science and I got to help out in the shark research programs there at that university and I did my study abroad in Bimini Bahamas, studying sharks down there. So and I was really lucky I that was kind of my background and getting into what I do now. So now I work for the Atlantic white shark Conservancy. We're a nonprofit in Chatham, Massachusetts, where we're helping to fund and conduct and educate people about the great white sharks that are here off of our coastline. That's awesome.

Unknown Speaker

So could you just tell us a little bit more about the Atlantic white shark conservancies mission and and what you specifically do there?

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, of course. So the Atlantic white shark Conservancy. As I said before, we are a non profit, and we were started in 2013 by our CEO and co founder said the awake grin, she came to a talk done by Dr. Greg scomo. So if anyone who is listening, you watch the Shark Week, you probably know who Greg Scoble is, he's been on there for the past 10 years or so. He's the one that was spearheading, and still is spearheading the research being done here along the Cape Cod coastline with those great white sharks. So she was inspired by his talk and asked him, How can I help? Can we do a fundraiser and being a state led project through the Massachusetts division of marine fisheries, they cannot just accept donations like that. So it's joked and said started on profit. And Cynthia being the killer woman that she is googled, how do I start a nonprofit? And here we are, seven years later. So with that, we are helping to educate the community about these white sharks here along our coastline. We're also helping with the public safety initiatives that are going on here along our coastline that as well as helping to fund and also help conduct that research of those great white sharks with our own staff scientist Megan Winton,

Unknown Speaker

wow. Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you. Okay, so now we're gonna get into a little bit more about sharks. So first, can you talk a little bit about the history of white sharks along the Cape Cod coastline? And their current research that's going on there?

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, of course. So, contrary to popular belief, a lot of people do think that these are a new species here along our coastline. But if you look at historical records, great white shark has always been here. Here in our outreach facility at the shark center in Chatham, we have a photo of fishermen bringing in a great white shark in to Barnstable harbor in 1949. So they have been here for a while. If you look at Henry David Thoreau book, Cape Cod from 1865, he talks about great white sharks back then. So they have always been here along our coastline. But unfortunately, as we know, humans are incredibly skilled at taking things out of the environment at fast rates. And we did that with great white sharks specifically. And so we it's estimated, we did kill about 80% of the individual great white sharks just in the Atlantic Ocean, which I know it's so sad, that's really sad. And because of that, they were incredibly rare to see for a very long time. And with that, it was recognized that they were incredibly rare to see so they became a federally protected animal in 1997. So meaning that you cannot go out and fish are great white shark, and or you could kill one too. So But it wasn't until 2005 that they became a state protected animal here in Massachusetts after the first one was tied to your off the coastline in 2004. And that was done by Dr. Greg scalable. So we have this protection that was put into place and now we see this conservation success story of the sharks here along our coastline where we are seeing that population rebound and part of the work that Dr. Greg Scoble and the Atlantic white shark Conservancy is doing with our staff scientist Megan Winton, is figuring out what is that population now of great white sharks. Now that we don't have that baseline anymore, we have to figure out what that baseline is for how many of them are out there. So by tagging and video identification, we are looking at how many of them are out there now.

Unknown Speaker

That's crazy. That's really Cool. So I kind of talked a little bit about earlier in the podcast, how big great white sharks actually are? Could you just explain how much do they usually eat in a day?

Unknown Speaker

So that is a question scientists not even here off of Cape Cod, but globally, who are studying white sharks throughout the world don't know. It's still a mystery to them. Really? Yeah, we really don't know. I mean, some people say that one grey seal will keep them full for a day. Some say it's a weekend, just a mystery that we really don't know seeing a shark prey on a seal, or another prey item, like a dead whale or a striper, or anything like that is still incredibly rare to see. And I know we do get those viral videos, at least once or twice a year, someone seeing that predation happen on an individual seal, or someone pulling in their tuna or their bass and the shark coming up and grabbing up out of the water. But with that, we really don't know how often they feed. And if it is truly that opportunistic feeding, or if it is kind of a planned schedule in their own mind, of what it is. So that is also new to the research as well as trying to figure that out.

Unknown Speaker

That really goes to show you how little we know about the ocean in general.

Unknown Speaker

Yeah. Yeah. And that's like with great white sharks as well. I mean, I get asked all the time, like, where do they give birth? weight? Like all this stuff? And we don't know we've never seen a white shark give birth or mate. So all things to learn it. Yeah, that's great. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker

So the closest relatives of sharks are manta rays. What makes sharks different from fish? Yeah, so

Unknown Speaker

one kind of brain teaser I like to give kids when I do school programs is all sharks are fish. But not all fish are sharks. So they are considered a fish. But there is some characteristics that make a shark, specifically a shark. So one of the most easiest things that you can do if you would look at an individual in the water and trying to figure out if I'm looking at is a shark or a fish is looking at their gill slits. So which is that mechanism that allows all fish to breathe underwater, so for them a normal fish, we just have that one Gill slit where a shark has to have at least five on either side of their body. So some sharks have six and some have seven. But for a fish to be considered a shark, it has to have at least five. So but there's other things too. I can get into that if you would like a whole biology lesson on what makes a shark a shark. But notice those multiple rows of teeth and cartilage skeleton and those dermal denticles which is their skin, so, uh huh.

Unknown Speaker

So if you kind of wanted to touch a shark, it would feel a lot different than touching a fish, right?

Unknown Speaker

Yes, exactly. So I don't know if you've ever been or if you've gone fishing and caught a shark or been to the aquarium in Boston. You feel the Shark Tank, you feel a shark and yes, it does feel like sandpaper and that's because of their special skills on their body. Cool.

Unknown Speaker

So, our great white sharks, mostly solitary animals, or do they like to stay in groups? Or are you still scientists still out on that as well?

Unknown Speaker

So it is consider them to be a solitary animal. They do move up and down the coastline in that solitary manner but we will see them kind of congregate in certain areas specifically where their food sources so prime example I was out on the water yesterday leading an eco tourism trip and we were right off the beach looking at a whole lot of sales probably around 100 of them were on the beach and at that point, our spotter pilot came over the radio and said I have five sharks in view. So does it mean they were all moving together but there were their food sources just like now if you're at Thanksgiving, you're going to be around where the turkey is and the stuffing you know you're going to be at that easy access.

Unknown Speaker

And that kind of leads me into my next question about feeding frenzy. So do do white sharks participate in feeding frenzy teasers that other sharks and could you just give us some explanations about feeding frenzies in general? Yeah, so

Unknown Speaker

for white sharks really hasn't been seen as considered a feeding frenzy. So going back to that Thanksgiving analogy, when there's a dead whale off of our coastline, we will typically see multiple white sharks getting off of that dead whale at once or they almost take turns going off and biting off those big hunks of blubber for them to be able to eat and we will see them pretty much gorge themselves earlier this year that happens and our staff scientists said that you know this shark just kept eating and eating and it got so big and they can barely swim away. Because they're so full they get their own type of food baby and as you can call it, but we typically don't see them do a feeding frenzy. One of my favorite stories that our spotter pilot Wayne Davis talks about is he was flying and solid shark prey on a seal from the air and you know the blood is in the water and everything and other white shark came in, swam right through it just kept on going. Yeah, that was Even fazed that something was there dead that blood was in the water. And so it's quite interesting to see those interactions. So I started to save white sharks who have a feeding frenzy, per se is what is portrayed on movies and things like that. But definitely does happen with other species of sharks, where if you thrown bait in the water, they all kind of go nuts and go crazy. Uh huh.

Unknown Speaker

So it's kind of not like those scenes where they smell blood in their eyes get all black and then automatically start rushing to the blood. Good to know. So, can you talk about how smart great white sharks are?

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, sharks in general, are incredibly smart species. There's specific researchers that are even looking at shark brains and looking at how each brain is different from species to species. Her name is Kara yo Pak out of university of Wilmington, and university, North Carolina Wilmington. And her research shows that depending on what shark species it is, their brains will be different sizes, depending on what they need that part of the brain for but for white sharks specifically, yeah, they are incredibly smart creatures, you know, they, they're smart enough to know how to move up and down the whole East Coast of the United States year after year and be able to find their food and be able to follow their food throughout the coastline. So now be able to, I don't I don't want to say the word stock because it's just that like, scary word that people say when sharks are trying to find their food, but you know, watch it kind of look at their food as they're trying to figure out how to eat and where to eat. So yes, they are incredibly smart.

Unknown Speaker

And are they willing to travel really far distances to to follow their prey or? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker

so for white sharks, it is seen that their movements here along the east coast of the United States are from that Maine and Canada region all the way down to Florida. So they are following different foods there. So specifically, when they're off of the New England coastline, they are feeding on those gray seals, and then humpback whales. But as they go further south for the winter time, they are again, feeding on those dead humpback whales, because they're making that migration back down to the warmer waters. But then they're also eating on those larger fish like tuna and such as well. So yeah, they definitely have a knowledge. I don't know how they gain and gain that knowledge, but some kind of inherent that their birth they're born with.

Unknown Speaker

That's really cool. So I think a lot of people have this commonly known fact in their head that sharks need to keep swimming in order to survive, or they'll die. Is this actually true?

Unknown Speaker

Yes and no. So for a great white shark, yes, it's absolutely true. They do need to constantly swim to breathe because as they swim, water gets pushed through their gills slits into their gills, and then the gills itself will take out that dissolved oxygen out of the water for them to be able to breathe. But there are other species of sharks specifically like smaller species of sharks that have a adaptation called a spiracle. And it's a little like tiny hole behind their eye. That helps them pump water down into their gill slits. And they can also just kind of lay at the bottom and just be able to pump water through their gills. So yes or no just depends on our species. Most definitely those larger species of sharks like great whites and tigers and whale sharks that they do have to constantly swim. Wow.

Unknown Speaker

So do you think that great white sharks are not represented fairly in the media?

Unknown Speaker

I get I think, yes and no, we are definitely that misunderstood creature. I know like if you look at kid movies like Finding Nemo, you know, of course, like Bruce was, you know, that misunderstood shark, no fish are friends, not food, but then Dory gets a nosebleed and he goes crazy right away. But you know, it's showing that yes, it definitely can be misunderstood. And I always take it back to jaws where that is that kind of that main movie that most people that when they say they're afraid of sharks, it's because of jaws. And that's why they're afraid so yes, definitely. I think they are misinterpreted and misunderstood in the media. But definitely shows in shark week are trying to change that as well. And being able to show the science behind why why scientists are looking at them and studying them and that they aren't those man eaters that a lot of people come to think that they are

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, I think just media representation is really important for a lot of different species in the conservation because changing people's minds about certain animals can change everybody's behavior about how they go about their lives and viewing these animals.

Unknown Speaker

Yes, so the author of jaws Peter benchley, his after jaws was released and he saw the negative effects that that movie had on great white sharks and sharks in general. He has come out and said that he deeply regrets even making that movie and showing sharks and way and up until he died. And now his wife, Wendy still does outreach in shark conservation, showing him how awesome they are and that they're not as scary as he depicts.

Unknown Speaker

That's great. So, going off of that question, why are great white sharks important to the ecosystems that they live in? Like, why do we want them around?

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, that's a great question. And one of the main reasons is they're an apex predator. So apex predator, meaning they're at the top of our food chain, and without them, you know, makes our ecosystems unbalanced, unhealthy, and they kind of make sure that everything else below them is in blind and in check. So without them there, you know, we can see that imbalance between then their own prey, which are seals or other larger bait fishes such so it is incredibly important to keep great white sharks conserved and being able to view them in the wild, but not even just great whites, but also the Caesars shark. So like a smaller shark, they're obviously not going to be an apex predator in their environment. But it's still important to conserve them as well, because each animal has their own role within the ecosystem.

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, and you don't want to mess up that food chain. So how do white sharks being in our waters affect our environment and our way of life?

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, so white sharks in our waters, specifically here off of Cape Cod can definitely affect the way of life of people here, the people that live here on Cape Cod year round, and definitely the tourists that come and visit us. And that is one of the reasons why the Atlantic white shark Conservancy is working with the state and our towns here along the cape, um, to be able to spread that awareness of these individuals here along our coastline and helping out in those public safety initiatives that towns have been putting into place because definitely, they can affect how we are enjoying our coastline here. That's your surfer, Boogie boarder paddle border. Now you want to know where those sharks are moving and how frequent they are off the beach that you like to enjoy? Yeah, so yeah, it's definitely can affect the way that we can live here for sure, but more knowledge we have, the better we can coexist with these animals.

Unknown Speaker

Absolutely. So what are the biggest threats that are facing populations of great white sharks right now?

Unknown Speaker

That's kind of a mix of things. Um, one of the most questions that I get a lot is how is global warming affecting these animals. And that's something that Unfortunately, we can't say yet, because that's definitely a more long term looking as our oceans continue to warm and as our climate continues to change, so that's going to definitely be a factor at some point is climate change and ocean warming, but then really humans? Unfortunately, here, I should say, fortunately, here in the United States, we do have those protections of white sharks here on a state and federal level, but in other parts of the world where fishing is not as regulated, you know, those populations are in that harm of being in decline, because you can fish them out and use them for fitting and such. So really, as humans are the biggest threat to them. But then if you ask them in South Africa, workers are there too. So or because besides us are the only prey to a great white shark? So I just think predator to the great white shark. So could you talk about finning a little bit? Yeah, of course. Would you like to just like what fitting is in general or sure? Yeah, okay, so for shark finning? Um, it's definitely is a it's a hot topic. It's been a hot topic I think for many many years now. But I think now as social media grows, I'm it's definitely more in the forefront and people do that aren't is involved in oceans or oceans as much they're getting to know it more but shark finning is when you are capturing that shark, you are cutting those fins off, but then releasing the shark back into the water, so you're only using those fins. Specifically, it's usually used for shark fin soup, which is served in Asian countries or high end Asian restaurants, even here in the United States. So that's the downfall of fitting is that you're cutting off those fins without releasing that alive animal back into the ocean. And without those fins, a shark cannot swim. So then essentially, they can suffocate. Because as we learned earlier, some sharks do need to constantly swim to breathe. Yeah. So without that, then they just kind of sink to the bottom and unfortunate, it's a slow death for them. So

Unknown Speaker

that's, that's really sad, as well. I think we all learn so much from having you on the podcast. And thank you so much for being here. You know, Could you just tell us where we can find information about the Atlantic white shark Conservancy?

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, of course. Um, so you can head over to our website, which is Atlantic white shark.org. Or you can check us out on all forms of social media or Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, I do run all our social media as well. So come on over and say hi. And that's all just the Atlantic white shark Conservancy.

Alex Re

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It was was great talking to you.

Kristen Kibblehouse

Thank you for having me.

Alex Re

That was such an informative interview. And I hope you learned as much from Kristen as I did. Aside from the Atlantic white shark Conservancy, which you should really check out by the way, there are some other organizations that are also helping sharks to organizations to take a look at are the shark Research Institute, and shark angels. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me as we explored the world of the great white shark. You can find the sources that we use for this podcast and links to organizations that we referenced@www.on wildlife.org You can also email us at on wildlife dot podcast@gmail.com Don't forget to tune in next Wednesday on wherever you listen to podcasts. And that's on wildlife.

Jess Avellino

You've been listening to on wildlife with Alex re brought to you every Wednesday.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai