The Insane Biology of: The Great White Shark

Images Courtesy of Getty Images

Thanks to our Patreon Supporters:
Eric Ypsilantis
Robert Thompson
Keith Skipper

Credits:
Writer/Narrator: Stephanie Sammann
Writer: Lorraine Boissoneault
Illustrator: Jacek Ambrożewski

References:

[TheUntypicalGerman]

Sharks and I have an unspoken agreement.
I don't swim in the ocean and they don't show up in my backyard.
Has been working so far.

[cupcake]

13:57 One thing to add about their hunting strategy is how their "fast, devastating bite, then wait" strategy is energy efficient regardless of the prey creature. The idea is to run in, use their powerful jaws to create a significant wound, then wait - at a safe distance - for the prey to die. Damage can be lethal to predators, so they are very risk adverse. The GW sharks excellent sense of smell and efficient swimming makes it so they'll be able to catch up with lunch after it bleads out. Given that context, yes, after the initial attack, if they're like "nah, never mind" for whatever reason, they won't come back to finish off the job.

[Filterdissman]

You just compressed 10 years of shark week into 28 minutes. I frickin love this channel.

[blnkdemn]

17:00 Sharks deciding while playing tail, splash, food is like humans playing rock, paper, scissors

[arianathough]

I low-key love that these sharks have made it impossible to be held in captivity by humans. It's as if their very biology is in revolt against being controlled in this way. I know there are nuances to the discussion of zoos and the ethics of that, but from a very visceral, emotional place I personally love to see an animal that cannot be contained by us.

[redfin]

Orcas are so chill looking.... Crazy to think they are apex and have a bite like 4.5x a great white shark.

[alfandosavant]

"Monster is a relative term. To a canary, a cat is a monster" Dr. Wu

[ActualRacerX]

No disrespect to any educators out there. Your efforts are not unnoticed or unappreciated: But every single one of these Real Science videos completely has me highly focused, sharply attentive and definitely interested. Even if it’s only via audio.

The Orca video was very well put together. But I would also like to say, this one was perfect from the excellent music timing, amazing editing, incredible visuals & diagrams, and of course, always the narrator’s cadence and delivery. This is truly uploaded Perfection.

Let’s not forget the smooth delivery of Brilliant’s tie in to bring us to a close. Bravo!

[Chubutensis]

Is it possible that rather than being almost ritualistic, the sharks are just checking the buoyancy of the prey by letting it float? Maybe it’s waiting to see how quickly it rises to decide if the prey has enough fat to be worth the time and effort?

[svenlima]

The shark's main problem is that they don't meet human's ideals of cuteness. If sharks had that artificial smile that dolphins have, they would be adored more by us.

[brody]

I'm not particularly scared of sharks, not because I think they're completely harmless or I'm invincible but because I feel like if you're worried it's very easy to avoid ever encountering one or getting hurt by one. Things like spiders, scorpions, bees and wasps seem much worse because they can get inside your house and sting or bite you, and it's hard to never encounter them in many areas of the U.S at least.

[alexisle]

I don’t know why people are not freaking appreciative how majestic this species is. It’s in endangerment and instinct because of some idiots who only care about eating their fins

[YouTube_user]

Shark hysteria is more monstrous than the shark.
I’ve encountered them while diving many times and they always bolt.

[THE-X-Force]

_"Don't bleed in the water"_ .. is still generally good advice. Really, you could have just stopped at _"Don't bleed"_ .. because, I don't know about you, but as a rule of thumb for me, I try to keep as much blood on the inside of my body as possible at all times, even on land. Well .. *_my_* blood anyway.

[anasexualdragonwithinterne]

Narrator: looking into their eyes, any comfort we might have is ripped away.
Me: look at the big ol sea puppy

[duncanself]

I get a touch of that primal fear whenever I swim in the sea, not knowing what's lurking underneath me

[MermaidMusings]

'Of all the great predators on the planet, white sharks are the only ones that cannot be caged or tamed.' - David Attenborough

[Brownyman]

Sharks: Kills 10 people per year
People: Kills 100, 000, 000 sharks per year

[frlo]

This documentary is really well-made fr, I love the diagrams and pictures, it gives you a much better understanding of the biology of TheGreatWhiteSharks
Not to mention that the videos shown are well-filmed too, there is a lot of great shots .

I learned a lot, thank you

[Cherries-svhk]

Great video. I love sharks. They are underrated and always seen as some kind of evil monsters. Pop culture has done some damage on their reputation and now learning about them and how complex they are is restoring some of it.