Remote Spot In Eastern North Pacific May Be Great White's 'Secret' Mating Ground

August 8, 2007

Release from: Daily India

Its status as one of nature's apex predators makes the Great White among the most well known sharks. Unfortunately, marine biologists know little about its mating habits.

But, all that could soon change.

Scientists claim to have discovered a remote spot in the eastern North Pacific, which they say, serves as a mating ground for the Great Whites.

Scientists, had at first, nicknamed the spot 1,553 miles west of the Baja Peninsula, the 'great white cafe' because they suspected sharks could go there to feed.

But, as lead author Kevin Weng, who conducted the study at Stanford University with project leader Barbara Block, said, there is a potential wrench in that theory.

"It's just not an area that a shark would logically go to from California to find something to eat. No seals or sea lions are there and it's not a hot area for whales either," said Weng, now a researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

To test their theory, Weng and his team tagged three great whites and then nalyzed the satellite telemetry information.

Findings revealed that the sharks migrated long distances seasonally from the coast of California to Hawaii and to the offshore area.

During the migration they occasionally dove 3,000 feet or more, possibly to "read" geomagnetic, compass-like information emitted from Earth's crust.

However, at the remote spot, they dove more often. On average they dove every 10 minutes, 1,000 feet down.

Weng believes the sharks could be diving to "sniff" for mates.

"Smells in the ocean are layered horizontally. So if you dump any kind of odorous thing into the ocean - an apple pie, a dead horse, or a female shark - its fragrance will end up within a horizontal plane. When the sharks repeatedly dive, they could be passing up and down through these layers...(for) olfactory cues," said Weng.

The study appears in the current issue of Marine Biology, reports Discovery News.