“Air Sharks” by Abby W.
Off the coast of South Africa, near a spot known as Seal Island, something incredible waits under the surface of the calm water; this something is over 2,000 lbs, 18 ft long, and possesses a mouthful of over 300 serrated teeth. It is the perfect predator with a stocky, streamlined body, and an upper jaw that detaches from its skull to better grip its prey. This predator is, of course, Carcharodon carcharias, the great white shark.
Usually the great white's preferred hunting method is to ram into its prey, mouth open, taking huge chunks out of the prey's side. But the sharks off South Africa are different. During seal pup season, these sharks do something incredible, propelling themselves, and their prey, completely out of the water, using a method called breaching. The great whites off South Africa are the only recorded population of sharks known to do this.
Seal pup season is when the most seals are in the water. The seal pups are just learning to swim and have started venturing out into the deeper water where the sharks lurk. The pups do not know the dangers that hide beneath them, so they stay near the surface, making noise, giving the shark a perfect ambush position, and the seals are none the wiser.The sharks swim deep, waiting to see a silhouette of a seal or other prey. They then propel themselves upwards at over 40 mph, ramming into the unfortunate seal and launching them both out of the water. Some great whites can get over ten feet above the surface of the water.
This behavior in itself is extraordinary considering some of the animals can weigh over two tons. Scientists are still not completely certain why these sharks do this, but they have theorized that it is a more efficient system of killing prey. This behavior gives scientists an important look into the lives of great white sharks.
Works Cited
"White Shark Breaching." White Shark Breaching. N.p., n.d. Web.
12 Nov. 2015.
