Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

[Barb]

WASHINGTON - Great white sharks have some things in common with human serial killers, a new study found: 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 to be reported 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 has been difficult 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.


Hammerschlag observed 340 great white shark attacks on seals off a South Africa island.

"It's more than sharks lurking at the water waiting to go after them," he said.

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 method. They were focused. They stalked from a usual base of operations, 100 yards 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. And they attacked from below, unseen.

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

Canadian shark researcher R. Aidan Martin connected with Kim Rossmo, a pioneer in the relatively new field of geographic profiling. Profilers try to find criminals by looking for patterns in where they strike. Martin and study co-author Rossmo, a professor of criminal justice at Texas State University-San Marcos, applied the work of tracking criminals to sleuthing shark strategy. Martin and Hammerschlag watched sharks from sunrise to sunset, focusing on one location.

They applied the "fancy math" of geographic profiling and came out with plots that showed stalking, Hammerschlag said.

Older sharks did better and were stealthier than younger, smaller sharks, indicating learning was occurring, he said.

The observations from the study can't apply to shark attacks on people because such attacks 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, observed more easily from the air and ground, also reveal strategies in their hunting, Hammerschlag said.

"Sharks are like many other predators that have developed patterns to their attacking that are obviously beneficial as a species," said University of Florida shark attack researcher George Burgess, who had not yet read the paper.

 

[Dewgong Reign]

*insert Jaws theme music here*

 

[Dorothy LaRouge]

*insert Jaws theme music here*

*Insert absurdly fake great white shark animatronic here*

 

[Dewgong Reign]

Finally someone who agrees. My parents actually used to act all suspenseful and freaked out by that movie.

 

[Dorothy LaRouge]

Finally someone who agrees. My parents actually used to act all suspenseful and freaked out by that movie.

When I saw it I was like "and this scared people out of the water? Srsly?" I mean really.


John Willliams did the score, though, so it's not all bad.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

That is insanely cool. Also means I'm never swimming off the coast of South Africa. Or at least not while wearing a seal costume.

 

[Barb]

Or yellow. Supposedly they're attracted to that color.

And don't surf, either.

 

[Dewgong Reign]

Yeah, and don't ride stomach-down on this:

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Or yellow. Supposedly they're attracted to that color.

And don't surf, either.

Yes, I've heard that laying on a surfboard and paddling gives you the silhouette of a seal...at least from a shark's underwater perspective.

Had NOT heard about yellow, though.

 

[Dewgong Reign]

I saw an insanely realisitic pic that looked like the seal, but also a sea turtle. I can't find it anywhere on Google.

 

[Barb]

Yes, I've heard that laying on a surfboard and paddling gives you the silhouette of a seal...at least from a shark's underwater perspective.

Had NOT heard about yellow, though.

I believe I read that in the excellent book Great White Shark by Richard Ellis and John McCosker. They did some tests off the coast of Australia and sharks repeatedly attacked a yellow wet suited dummy.