SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) - A newborn baby great white shark has been spotted for the first time in the wild, or so California researchers say.
Researchers at University of California, Riverside believe they have made a major scientific breakthrough by spotting a great white shark that appeared to be "one day old at most" off the coast of California near Santa Barbara.
Researchers say great white sharks, called white sharks in the scientific community, have never been spotted giving birth in the wild, and subsequently newborns have never been seen.
“Where white sharks give birth is one of the holy grails of shark science. No one has ever been able to pinpoint where they are born, nor has anyone seen a newborn baby shark alive,” Wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna said. “There have been dead white sharks found inside deceased pregnant mothers, but nothing like this.”
Gauna and a doctoral student, Phillip Sternes, say they were "scanning the water for sharks" in July when they saw a thin and rounded shark on the drone camera that appeared to be a shark pup. Only this pup was approximately 5 feet long and entirely white.
“We enlarged the images, put them in slow motion, and realized the white layer was being shed from the body as it was swimming,” Sternes said. “I believe it was a newborn white shark shedding its embryonic layer.”
The researchers say they filmed large great whites that appeared to be pregnant in the same location only days prior, further strengthening their hypothesis.
"On this day, one of them dove down, and not long afterwards, this fully white shark appears,” Gauna said. “It’s not a stretch to deduce where the baby came from.”
Their findings were published in an article on Monday in the Environmental Biology of Fishes journal. While the sighting is not confirmed to be a newborn white shark, there are important implications if it is.
First, it would mean the coast near Santa Barbara is a birthing location for white sharks, something that has been speculated about for years.
“There are a lot of hypothetical areas, but despite intense interest in these sharks, no one’s seen a birth or a newborn pup in the wild,” Sternes said. “This may well be the first evidence we have of a pup in the wild, making this a definitive birthing location.”
This would also be important for understanding the birthing habits of the sharks, as researchers have previously speculated that they give birth further out in the sea. This pup appears to be evidence of the opposite as it appeared approximately 1,000 feet from the beach, meaning it was likely born in shallow waters.
Finally, this research is important for the species as it is currently considered to be endangered, according to the university.
“Further research is needed to confirm these waters are indeed a great white breeding ground. But if it does, we would want lawmakers to step in and protect these waters to help white sharks keep thriving,” Sternes said.
