yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Great White Sharks of Guadalupe Island | Most Wanted Sharks


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

NARRATOR: But everyone loves Lucy. The story of this great white is the classic "Finding Nemo" tale, but about 2,000 pounds heavier. When divers spotted Lucy back in 2008, her distinctive tail wound looked fresh. And she seemed in desperate need of a good meal. A damaged caudal often puts a shark's life in danger. It's crucial for propelling a shark through water.

APRYL BOYLE: Lucy's tail deformity could be from fighting with another shark when she was younger.

NARRATOR: And Lucy's not only survived, she's thrived. She did it by modifying the way she swims to sway a little more than the average great white. And now Lucy's adoring public keeps an eye out for her signature floppy fin and her unique swagger. Unlike other female great whites, Lucy returns to Guadalupe Island every year. And that is because she has not given birth yet. If she did, she'd be gone at least 12 to 18 months, because that's how long a shark pregnancy lasts.

NARRATOR: Fans don't know for sure why Lucy is still not a mom. It could be that male sharks are turned off by her misshapen fin. Or maybe Lucy hasn't yet met Zapata, the most famous and recognizable male great white of Guadalupe Island. This tough guy is a 14-footer, who has mixed it up with other apex predators and has the battle scars to prove it.

RALPH COLLIER: Zapata is a very large shark. To sustain the wounds it received, the attacking shark must have been very large, possibly 18 or 20 feet in length.

NARRATOR: He might not play well with other sharks. But luckily, unlike Bullet, Zapata actually enjoys hanging out with people. That's my favorite shark right there, Zapata.

NARRATOR: Scarboard, at an intimidating 18 feet long, isn't just one of the most massive sharks at Guadalupe Island, she's one of the biggest great whites in the world. But like all sharks, no one will know for sure how old she is until after she dies.

RALPH COLLIER: One of the ways to determine the age of a shark is by dissecting it. If we cut through a vertebra, we can see rings similar to those of a tree showing annual growth. She got her nautically themed name because of scars on the right, or starboard, side of her body.

APRYL BOYLE: When sharks engage in head-to-head combat, they can do incredible damage to each other, which is what happened to Scarboard. But sharks have amazing healing abilities.

NARRATOR: Scarboard shows up at Guadalupe every other year. And the next time you see her, many of her scars might be gone. Bullet, Lucy, Zapata, and Scarboard, four sharks whose physical flaws grabbed our attention and helped make them famous.

More Articles

View All
What Will Happen In One Billion Years?
If you could spend one day in the year 2100 to see what life would be like in that time, what do you think you would find? The idea of seeing the future—seeing life as we know it in a far, distant timescale—has been in the minds of people for thousands of…
The Man Who Accidentally Killed The Most People In History
One single scientist created three inventions that accidentally caused the deaths of millions of people, including himself. Not only that, they decreased the average intelligence of people all around the world, increased crime rates, and caused two comple…
Harry Zhang with Kevin Hale on Building Lob to Automate the Offline World
Today we have Harry Zhang, co-founder of Lob. Lob makes APIs for companies to send letters and postcards. So, Kevin has a question for you. “I’m trying to think back to when you guys applied to YC. You didn’t have almost anything. Like, I would say it wa…
Natural selection and adaptation | Mechanisms of evolution | High school biology | Khan Academy
Hi everybody, Dr. Sammy here, your friendly neighborhood entomologist, and I was hoping that we could take a few minutes to talk about adaptation. What comes to mind when you think about adaptation? You might think of cryptic morphology that helps organi…
Adorable Lemurs Roam Free on This Ancient Island | Short Film Showcase
Nita Terrace Helen Mirren Gandhi, I reckon if Allah to a new litter one potato atlatl. [Music] Kylie, the hero and the Monocacy lying in a field known lon Kenan rotten Atlanta kinds of top Caselli. They would do to flank the chopper; that’ll do it in th…
AK’s and Alcohol | Explorer
Check, check. Here we are. We have arrived, and, uh, waiting for the commander. Just in time! It’s, uh, just turning out, which isn’t exactly ideal. The air is thick with ganja smoke. I’m 3 hours walk from the nearest town, and I’m completely at their mer…