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
Introduction to the semicolon | The Colon and semicolon | Punctuation | Khan Academy
Hello, Garans. In this video, I’m going to tell you about a piece of punctuation called the semicolon, which basically looks like a comma with a period on top of it. The semicolon has a few uses, but the basic sort of standard use is to link two closely r…
My Life As an Adventure Photographer | Nat Geo Live
Hello everyone, thank you so much for coming. My name is Becca Skinner, and I’m a National Geographic Young Explorer and an adventure photographer. Before I get started and tell you why, in this photo, I’m carrying 110 liters of camera gear across the coa…
Identifying Unknown Soldiers | Ghosts of Pearl Harbor
[music playing] NARRATOR: Of the 429 men who died on the battleship “USS Oklahoma,” only 35 were identified in the years immediately following the attack. The rest were buried in graves marked “Unknown.” But almost 75 years later, one of these unknown me…
5 Games That Will Get You Laid: V-LIST #2
Hey V saucers! My name is Danielle, and I’m back today to tell you some games that your girl will play with you, and she might actually like it. Now, one of my most recommended games to get your girlfriend to play with you is Halo 3. Halo 3 is a really, r…
Be a Million-Dollar Real Estate Agent...with 6 Techniques
What’s up you guys? It’s Graham here. So I want to share with you guys the easiest, simplest, fastest, bestest, coolest, most awesomest tips to be a better real estate agent. And just as a forewarning on this, some of these might actually sound like I’m …
Caught in an Underwater Avalanche | Expedition Raw
We’re heading down to explore an underwater cave. We always run a guideline, and you place it very carefully because you have to assume that you’re going to come out in no visibility. Without that line, you have low odds of getting out. Then all of a sud…