White shark

1995/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biologia

The well-known film Shark by Steven Spielberg (Jaws) showed only one aspect of the personality of the great white shark, the bloody aggressor. The biologist Leonard Compagno of the Museum of South Africa believes that this image is not suitable. In his opinion, the research carried out so far has focused solely on the hunting behavior of the shark and on relations with humans, which is nothing more than a part of the coin.

Studies conducted by Compagno since the mid-1980s include a new image of the great white shark. The white shark is not a solitary hunter, but a social animal that maintains complex relationships with its own and other animals. It is not an animal attached to an enclosure or linked to its defense. Being a good predator, limiting your enclosure has no advantages. It is a nomadic animal. In addition, it seems that the white shark sometimes hunts in a group.

It has a very curious relationship with penguins. These birds seem to be their sparrings. The white shark normally eats seals, not penguins. However, it often attacks penguins, but does not kill them. Once arrived with the teeth let them go. Therefore, these attacks on penguins can be a training to improve the hunting technique.

Compagno believes there is still much to learn about the white shark. However, it underlines the convenience of starting to change the image of the bloody, cruel and savage aggressor.