First ever sighting of a live newborn great white shark

I was struck today in reading The Times that “No one has ever been able to pinpoint where they are born, nor has anyone seen a newborn white shark alive”.

The words are those of Carlos Gauna, a shark photographer. He regards his photograph of a newborn great white shark as the holy grail of photographs in the world of sharks.

This sighting of a ‘great white pup’ as the animal has been described is reported in the journal Environmental Biology of Fishes.

It is believed that this photograph and the events that happened before it help explain for the first time how the birth of a great white shark takes place.

First ever siting of a live newborn great white shark
Photo: Carlos Gauna.

Carlos added that he was looking for a fish in the first hours of life and he said the following: “I filmed three very large sharks that appeared pregnant at this specific location in the days prior. On this day, one of them dove down, and not long afterwards, this fully white shark appears. It’s not a stretch to deduce where the baby came from.”

The baby great white shark was 1.5m long and white all over. The Times reports that it seemed to be “shedding a layer of its skin, as though it had just emerged from the womb”.

The picture shows the pup looking up at a drone camera off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. The paper asks whether this is the first sighting of a newborn great white or an older shark with a skin condition.

It appears that it was a newborn pup and it’s the first time it’s been photographed. It appears that the shark dives into the deep gives birth and then both she and her newborn come to the surface. That’s the upshot of this story which is widely reported on the Internet and which is why this article will never be seen!

I hope that the publishing of his photograph is acceptable to Carlos. If not please leave a comment and I will remove it immediately!

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Post Category: Marine wildlife > sharks