Newborn great white, filmed off the California coast near Santa Barbara. Credit: Carlos Gauna/The Malibu Artist
Key points:
- Researchers may have captured the first-ever sighting of a newborn great white shark in the wild.
- The shark’s size and shape are indicative of a newborn, as well as the white layer—likely an embryonic layer—being shed from the body as it was swimming.
- The research sheds a significant light on the mystery of great white shark births.
On July 9, 2023, wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna and UC Riverside biology doctoral student Phillip Sternes were scanning the waters near Santa Barbara for sharks when they saw something unlike any they’d ever seen before—a roughly 5-foot-long shark that was pure white.
Great white sharks are gray on top and white on bottom—meaning this one was different.
“We enlarged the images, put them in slow motion, and realized the white layer was being shed from the body as it was swimming,” Sternes said. “I believe it was a newborn white shark shedding its embryonic layer.”
If true, this marks the first-ever sighting of a live newborn great white shark.
“Where white sharks give birth is one of the holy grails of shark science. No one has ever been able to pinpoint where they are born, nor has anyone seen a newborn baby shark alive,” Gauna said. “There have been dead white sharks found inside deceased pregnant mothers. But nothing like this.”
In their new paper published in Environmental Biology of Fishes, the duo outline the evidence that points to this truly being a live newborn sighting.
One reason is the presence of large, likely pregnant great whites off the coast of central California. In fact, the specific location of the video capture has long been proposed as a birthing location for great whites. Thus, the first evidence of a pup in the wild would make the area a definitive birthing location. For example, just days prior to the capture, Gauna observed three very large sharks that appeared pregnant at the location.
“On the day [of the filming], one of the sharks dove down, and not long afterward, this fully white shark appears,” Gauna said. “It’s not a stretch to deduce where the baby came from.”
Another reason is the shark’s size and shape. What the two observed was thin, short, and rounded.
“In my opinion, this one was likely hours, maybe one day old at most,” Sternes said.
Many scholars believe great whites are born farther out at sea. That this pup was filmed so close to shore—roughly 1,000 feet from the beach—is significant because its age means it was likely born in shallow waters.
“Further research is needed to confirm these waters are indeed a great white breeding ground. But if it does, we would want lawmakers to step in and protect these waters to help white sharks keep thriving,” Sternes said.