10 cool things about sharks

1. White sharks heat up (literally)

White sharks aren’t technically “warm-blooded”, but they can heat their blood to be warmer than the surrounding water. However, white sharks don't develop that ability until they're older and larger. For this reason, young white sharks prefer to stay in warm waters—they need to stay warm to survive. When young white sharks appeared in Monterey Bay, researchers connected their arrival to warming ocean temperature due to climate change.

2. Shark mummies reveal secrets

The teeth from mummified white shark heads show that Mexican and Californian shark populations are one and the same. This marks an important discovery as we work to protect white sharks during their international migrations.

4. When orcas arrive, white sharks skedaddle

There can only be one true apex predator. Despite their reputation, it’s not the white shark. Research from the Aquarium found that when orcas arrived in the Farallon Islands (off the coast of San Francisco) white sharks fled. Orcas are bigger and smarter—they strategically communicate and hunt in groups. Researchers saw what happened when orcas hunted white sharks, but still want to know if orcas intentionally targeted the sharks for their oily, calorie-dense liver or if it was an unexpected perk.

6. Sharks help keep ecosystems balanced

Sharks help support a healthy ocean. Large predatory sharks, like white sharks, keep populations of other animals in check—white sharks play an important role in maintaining balance in the ocean food web. Because of this, human activities can threaten shark populations and put the health of the entire ecosystem at risk. For example, the global shark fin trade kills as many as 100 million sharks each year. New research answers key questions about illegal shark finning, a critical step toward conserving these iconic ocean predators.

7. Researchers locate a baby shark lagoon

A mother white shark gives birth to a live litter—with vulnerable newborn pups in tow, where’s a safe place for her to give birth? Scientists have been trying to answer this question for years. Finally, a 2017 study provided an answer: Bahía de Sebastián Vizcaíno, a warm lagoon on Baja California’s coast. The study was the result of collaboration with our colleagues at Ensenada Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education (CICESE) among other institutions. The protected waters of this nursery area offer a safe place for those delicate days at the beginning of a shark’s life.

8. White sharks swim through underwater forests

Despite being well known to the public, white sharks are still somewhat of a mystery to scientists. It's long been thought that white sharks avoid kelp forests, but our research using a camera tag showed never-before-revealed behavior: some sharks spend time in kelp beds where they may even be hunting for seals.

Watch as white sharks swim through kelp forests

10. Bigger sharks survive fishing gear

Researchers followed 37 young white sharks to understand their survival rates. In the course of the study, six of them died after run-ins with fishing gear. The study found that the bigger a shark grows, the less danger a gillnet (a kind of mesh curtain designed to trap halibut and other bottom-dwelling fish) poses. This is possibly because larger sharks snagged in gillnets are better able to fight their way free.