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s1k3b8 | 6 years ago

> It is already known that white sharks flee whenever one of their own is killed by anything

But white sharks fight each other, kill each other and even eat each other on occasion. We know that white sharks fetuses cannibalize each other in the womb. How could they do that if white shark blood scares them off? Also, is there really a difference in smell between white sharks and other sharks, seals, etc?

This is such an easy thing to test. Has anyone taken white shark blood and tested it on white sharks ( captive or wild )? Also, does this only work on white sharks? Do tiger sharks, nurse sharks and other sharks fear blood of their own species?

Finally, white sharks are scavengers as well as hunters ( like most predators ). As far as I know, every scavenger will cannibalize when given the chance. Are white sharks the exception?

Also, most animals flee when they see, smell or hear a predator. So I think it's most likely that white sharks flee when they sense a potential predator.

If truly shark blood scares off sharks, then coast guards should dump some shark blood near beaches where sharks frequent.

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olivermarks|6 years ago

Hollywood/Spielberg promoted the fantasy that sharks are predatory to humans, where we are more often mistaken for seals and other natural shark prey when out in the water. An acquaintance recently told me he was surfing at Salmon Creek a couple of weeks ago and a great white hit him on the back of his head with a powerful flick of his tail while he was laying prone on his longboard, a wave came along almost immediately after this and took him shore wards (still prone). This was almost certainly a 'seal slap' stun move, sharks don't do anything by accident. My friend then saw another surfer on his way in paddling out who saw the shark silhouette in the wave and headed back to the beach. It's scary but there are very few actual shark bites and kills of humans despite the terror film sell, but it is still a mystery how we can discourage them from the coastal beach waves where they have every right to be. Despite dolphin's adorable perception by humans you can see them torturing and raping seals in the San Francisco bay, it's a jungle out there...

kls|6 years ago

Oceanic white tips and Tiger Sharks are man eaters, they have been know to stalk, hunt and consume humans. They will return to devour a human. The meme that Sharks do not eat humans is not entirely true, but the reality is they prefer other meals. Well at least the tiger shark does. Oceanic white tips are the piranhas of the open ocean, they eat everything they come across. It is a good thing they only live in open ocean as if they where a shallow water shark there would be far more shark attacks.

I spearfish, and have spent a lot of time in the water with sharks. There nature is very much like that of dogs. If you show fear, try to flee and basically make yourself look like prey they will get attracted. If you stand your ground, give them a nudge to the face when they get to close. They see you as a competing apex predator that can hurt them, sharks are adverse to fighting for their meal. It is why injured fish is such and attraction to them. I have been in the water with them, just cruising around not paying any attention to anything, someone shoots a fish and all hell breaks loose if you don;t get the fish up fast enough. Once you are in possession of the fish they act as if another shark got it and go back to just cruising around. If they get to your fish before you get it up, they will clean it off the spear in seconds flat.

dfc|6 years ago

Dolphins are raping seals off the coast of San Francisco?