Tall undulating seaweed known as kelp grows in thick underwater forests off the southern coasts of Africa. The kelp forests were once thought to provide a safe haven to Cape fur seals from great white sharks. Then researchers put GoPro-like high-resolution cameras on the predators.
Instead of being deterred by the underwater flora, the sharks dive right into thick kelp forests in pursuit of prey, the researchers find. It’s a new discovery for shark researchers, who had previously thought the forests were off-limits for hungry sharks.
“It’s a completely new perspective of what they do,” said Oliver Jewell, a marine biologist at Murdoch University in Australia, who led the new research.
A shark being tagged for the study. (Credit: Jewell et al. (2019) Biology Letters)
Jewell et al. (2019
Great white sharks are ambush hunters. They typically take down seals around dawn or dusk as the pinnipeds swim to and ...
