Along the coast of California, there are a few places that are hot spots for juvenile great white sharks. Considering the number of people in the water there, it sounds scary, but if you pause to consider how many attacks there have been, it’s just another day at the beach. According to the International Shark Attack File, there were only three unprovoked shark attacks in 2019 in California. And while any number of attacks are a terrible thing, three isn’t a huge number. Globally, surfers and swimmers make up some 53 percent of the victims. That’s because sharks like to cruise around in the surf zone where prey is abundant and the element of surprise is a little easier to come by. We, however, are not on the menu, at least purposefully. You know what is on the menu? Bat rays.
Carlos Gauna, a professional photographer and wildlife advocate who runs a YouTube channel full of interesting shark videos called The Malibu Artist, piloted his drone up in the air just beyond the beach break. It’s there that he often finds sharks doing shark-like things — which are generally pretty soothing — and it was there that he found them doing those shark-like things again. It’s slightly curious, though, because although bat rays are generally high up on the juvenile great white shark list of favorite foods, this time, the interaction just seems to be based in curiosity.
“This is a favorite meal for juvenile great white sharks along the California coast,” Gauna wrote. “I hope to eventually capture predation on a bat ray to learn and observe juvenile great white shark predation behaviors. Although it didn’t happen in these clips, I’m curious as to why the sharks got so close and chose not to prey on the bat rays.”
