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
Alfred Lin with Justin Kan
Next up, I’m pleased to introduce Alfred Lynn, who’s a partner at Sequoia Capital, one of the top investors in Silicon Valley and the world. He serves as a director on a bunch of awesome Silicon Valley companies like Airbnb and Houzz. Before that, he was …
Spinning Disk Trick Solution
[Applause] So, in the spinning disc trick we saw that an asymmetrically weighted disc, when spun, actually flips so that the lighter side goes towards the bottom. Now, this is a variation on something called the tippy top, a little spinning toy that spins…
Could Biking in a City Be Bad for Your Health? | National Geographic
Air pollution is bad for you, and we know that exercise is good for you. But there’s this unanswered question: is exercising in close proximity to traffic enough of a bad thing for you that we should be recommending separating biking lanes from traffic al…
Charlie Munger: Be a Survivor, Not a Victim
Of course, feeling like it’s rather interesting to make change. Some people are victimized by other people, and if it weren’t for the indignation that that causes, we wouldn’t have the reforms that we need. But that truth is mixed with another. It’s very…
Checking bus fares with if statements | Intro to CS - Python | Khan Academy
Let’s design a program using Boolean expressions and if statements. The public transit system wants to build an app that determines a passenger’s bus fare. The standard bus fare is $4.25; however, they offer discounts for certain age groups. Kids under fi…
If Life Has No Meaning, Why Live? | Albert Camus & The Absurd Man
According to French-Algerian philosopher Albert Camus, our world has no ultimate meaning, but if it had, it would be impossible to know it. It’s all pretty pointless, as if the universe is nothing more than a cosmic coincidence, born without any specific …