Great white sharks locate and utilize areas of high food abundance, or “hot spots.” The stomach of a large dead great white shark found beached in Southeast Alaska contained undigested salmon parts, but large great white sharks tend to eat marine mammals because of their higher fat content. Great white shark predation in Alaskan waters may afford some stability to the ecosystem by removing and controlling other large marine predator. Great white shark predation may be limiting the predation by intermediate-sized predators. Great white shark predation on beluga whales in Cook Inlet may be pushing this population of white whales to the brink of extension. The complexities of the predator–prey relationship and their effects on the marine ecosystem are difficult and next-to-impossible to predict and manage.
Only a few great white sharks have been documented to have been killed by people in Alaskan waters and these were caught incidental to catching salmon. Since we know very little about the great white sharks found in Alaska we don’t know if these catches are significant for the population; we don’t even know if the great white shark population in Alaskan waters is seasonal and transitory or stable with sharks plying secretively year around. But their secrecy may be their best strategy for their long-term survival in sub-arctic and arctic waters.
- Wright, Bruce A., 2011. Alaska Predators, Their Ecology and Conservation. Hancock House Publishing. 119 pages. http://www.hancockhouse.com/products/alapre.htm
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