The Great White Shark is a predator there is no doubt about that; however, is it THE apex predator? In other words, is there something else that hunts down the Great White Shark? There is and this animal is the Apex predator of the Ocean. 

This animal has been known to hunt Great White Sharks off the coast of South Africa and off the West Coast of the United States. 

Can you guess what this animal is? Listen to the episode and let us know your thoughts in the Speak Up For Blue Facebook Group: http://www.speakupforblue.com/group.

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The Great White Shark is a mysterious animal. Feared by many and respected by all for their status as an apex predator. The shark has been around for hundreds of millions of years, where it has evolved many times to survive. Scientists have been wondering how a primitive shark could survive for so long without being wiped out. The answer may be in their DNA. 

A team of researchers has been able to crack the code of the Great White Shark DNA and they discovered 2 things.

Take a listen to the episode to find out what those important things are.

Share your thoughts on the breakthrough in our Speak Up For Blue Facebook Group: http://www.speakupforblue.com/group.

Want to get started on living for a better Ocean? Sign up for the Grove Collaborative and get a free gift: http://www.speakupforblue.com/goocean. 

Resources: https://earthsky.org/earth/great-white-shark-genome-decoded

A long term great white shark survey conducted in False Bay, South Africa . has found that there has been a sharp decrease in Great White Sharks in 2017 and 2018. Those two years resulted in zero sightings of the once dominant shark species in the area. So what happens to a marine ecosystem when an apex predator disappears? 

Dr. Neil Hammershlag (University of Miami) and Chris Fallows (Apex Shark Expeditions) wrote a paper on the subject that was recently published in Scientific Reports. 

The authors found a drastic increase in sightings of seven gill sharks (120 sightings) when Great White Sharks weren't present. The seven gill sharks normally occur 18 km away hidden in the kelp forests away from their predator, the great white shark. Now that the whites are gone, the seven gills are ready to take over. 

Take a listen to the details in the episode. 

What did you think about the great whites disappearing? Share your thoughts in the Facebook Group: http://www.speakupforblue.com/group.

Want to get started on living for a better Ocean? Sign up for the Grove Collaborative and get a free gift: http://www.speakupforblue.com/goocean. 

Great White Sharks are the species that EVERYONE wants to know about. We know Shark Week loves their Great White Sharks, but I find they always cover the same kind of thing. So I thought that I would ask my buddy Dr. Dave Ebert whether he would be interested in coming on again to discuss why there were so many more Great Whites in Northern California.

Dave was happy to record another episode about sharks...because he loves sharks. So we had a great discussion. Take a listen!!!

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