Great white shark stomach study shows surprising supper source
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A fin above water probably doesn't mean shark is on the hunt.
By Amy Barrett
14th June, 2020 at 08:00
A more scientific opening scene to the movie Jaws would look wildly different, as recent research has shown great white sharks spend more time feeding close to the seabed than previously thought.
The stereotype of a sharks dorsal fin above the surface as it hunts is probably not a very accurate picture, said University of Sydney PhD candidate and lead author of the study, Richard Grainger.
Grainger and his team are the first to run a study of this detail into the dietary habits of white sharks. By looking at the stomach contents of 40 young white sharks, the researchers were able to identify different types of prey and, knowing the habitats of the prey, could pinpoint where the sharks spend most of their time hunting.
White sharks have a varied diet, said Dr Gabriel Machovsky-Capuska, a co-author of the study. As well as east Australian salmon, we found evidence of other bony fish including eels, whiting, mullet and grasses.
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https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/great-white-shark-stomach-study-shows-surprising-supper-source/