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Baby Shark Spotted: Scientists Film Their First Footage of a White Shark Newborn

A first for shark science, the footage fills in important gaps in the lives and lifecycles of great whites. Learn why spotting a baby shark is so important.

BySam Walters
The newborn great white, filmed off the coast of central California.Credit: Carlos Gauna/The Malibu Artist

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We know a lot about ocean newborns. Baby corals billow beneath the waves before attaching to something solid; baby comb jellies burst into being in the open ocean; and baby turtles wriggle their way through the sandy shores. But there’s one ocean creature whose birthplace is strangely secretive, and that’s the great white shark.

For decades, scientists struggled to determine where great white sharks gave birth. But in July 2023, two shark specialists — a filmmaker and a biologist searching for sharks off the coast of central California — captured what they describe as the world’s first footage of a wild great white newborn. In an article published in Environmental Biology of Fishes, the footage could clarify where great whites are born, as well as what they look like in their first days — or hours — of life.

Read More: What Makes These 7 Shark Species Stand Out Among ...

  • Sam Walters

    Sam Walters is the associate editor at Discover Magazine who writes and edits articles covering topics like archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution, and manages a few print magazine sections.

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