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
Earmarks, pork barrel projects and logrolling | US government and civics | Khan Academy
What we’re going to do in this video is focus on the budget process in the U.S. Congress. Just as a reminder, that’s one of the major functions of the United States Congress: to pass a budget for the executive branch—to decide how much money the executive…
My top three favourite quotes.
If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. Here’s the top three quotes that I just love to say. First one is: when you actually think that you’ve exhausted every single possibility trying to solve a problem, just remember this—…
How YOU Can Make Money with NO MONEY! | Ask Mr. Wonderful #7 Kevin O'Leary
Hi Mr. Wonderful. My main question is how do you make money with no money? This is Andrea. Andrea, do we need a quick musical interlude here? [Music] Yeah, that was good. Just, you know, takes the edge off. So how do you come up with a good business idea?…
A collection of my best advice on meditation
I’m so glad that some of our conversations are on meditation. I have a number of questions that I get on meditation. Uh, what type? There are just many, many, many types of meditation, and I suppose they’re probably almost all good. I’ve only experienced…
Down and Tight | Wicked Tuna
We’re on, we’re on, we’re on, we’re on, we’re on. Yeah baby, all right! The Tide’s actually on our side right now, boys. We got to take advantage of this; it’s only going to get rougher. Go to the angled rod hole there. It’s really tough when it’s rough …
Does a Falling Slinky Defy Gravity?
[Music] So, this is the modeling that I’ve been doing. This was done with the purpose of trying to explain the data that was extracted from one of the movies of real falling slinky. What you see in this one is that the turns at the top are snapping toget…