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
Divergence formula, part 1
Hello everyone. So, now that we have an intuition for what divergence is trying to represent, let’s start actually drilling in on a formula. The first thing I want to do is just limit our perspective to functions that only have an x component, or rather w…
The Real Reason Flames Don't Have Shadows
Uh, why don’t flames have shadows? Like, I mean, hello, it’s kind of freaky. But it has everything to do with what a hydrocarbon flame is. When you look at a candle flame, the part you can see is not a gas, and it’s not a plasma, believe it or not. The p…
Any physically possible transformation can be brought about by knowledge.
There ain’t no one here but us people. If you think of the set of physical transformations that can be brought about and can’t be brought about, of the ones that can be brought about, the overwhelming majority—and again, that’s an understatement—can only …
THE END OF $0 REAL ESTATE | Major Changes Explained
What’s up, grandma’s guys? Here. So, a few days ago, I made a video discussing my thoughts on the new personal tax increases along with an analysis of how that would affect the stock market. However, I purposely left out one crucial point, which has the …
The Japanese Have it Figured Out
Have you ever heard of blue zones? These are areas in the world where a large number of centenarians live. That’s people who are over 100 years old. Many people have studied these areas to try and discover the secret to longevity, and the thing they found…
The Terrifying Real Science Of Avalanches
This is a video about avalanches, what they are, what causes them, how destructive ones can be prevented, and what to do if you’re ever caught in one. To actually feel the force of the avalanche on your body. There’s kind of nothing that can prepare you …