Why do great white sharks dive so deep

Whale sharks Rhincodon typus live in warm and temperate waters around the world, and can grow to about 50 feet 15 m in length. Deep sea sharks live below the photic zone of the ocean, primarily in an area known as the twilight zone between and 1, meters deep, where light is too weak for photosynthesis. This extreme environment is limited in both sunlight and food.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Helpful tips Do great white sharks go in shallow water? Helpful tips. Meanwhile, the tagged sharks' movements can be followed on the CI website , using a " whale shark tracker " tool, part of an initiative to raise awareness and appreciation of these massive and mysterious marine creatures.

Original article on Live Science. Mindy Weisberger is a Live Science senior writer covering a general beat that includes climate change, paleontology, weird animal behavior, and space. Mindy holds an M. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence.

Great White Shark. The subject of the film Jaws, the great white shark is responsible for the most recorded unprovoked shark attacks at Menstrual blood in the water could be detected by a shark, just like any urine or other bodily fluids. In fact, there is no positive evidence that menstruation is a factor in shark attacks. Using their super ability to sense electricity, sharks are able to detect the heartbeat and movement of their prey.

Since sharks see contrast colors, anything that is very bright against lighter or darker skin can look like a bait fish to a shark. For this reason, he suggests swimmers avoid wearing yellow, white, or even bathing suits with contrasting colors, like black and white. All four sharks spent up to 90 percent of the day in these two diving zones and little time at intermediate depths, according to the Nature study. Clearly they can tolerate a broad temperature range, which provides access to prey over a wide ecological niche.

Satellite data indicate that sharks spend at least five months in the open ocean, "suggesting that it could be an important period in the life history of white sharks in the North Pacific," conclude the authors of the Nature study.

In November, Tipfin returned to the Farallones, giving Pyle, Anderson and Boustany the opportunity to attach another pop-up tag on his back. The tag was programmed to record data for nine months and could answer some of the questions about the shark's round-trip migration. So long-range data on females will be of particular interest. Tagging of Pacific Pelagics. In November , Block and her colleagues launched TOPP -- the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics, a major research initiative whose objective is to complete the first comprehensive analysis of marine life in the Pacific using electronic tagging technology.

As part of the global Census of Marine Life, TOPP's international research team plans to electronically monitor up to 4, fish, birds, mammals and large squid. TOPP scientists are working with engineers to develop even more sophisticated electronic tags that increase the amount of information sent back to researchers.

The scientists will launch a pilot program in the next two years to tag salmon, blue and white sharks, albatross, bluefin tuna, elephant seals, blue whales and squid. Knowing where they go and what they do has been challenging.

New electronic tags are making it easier to work in extreme ocean environments far from land, she added.