A veteran wildlife photographer has been able to capture rare images of some great white sharks smiling near Santa Cruz County beaches.
Eric Mailander, a professional marine photographer, has photographed more than 20 young great white sharks swimming near New Brighton State Beach with a GoPro.
Last week, the photographer went out by boat to an area nicknamed ‘Shark Park’ where this particular species appears annually.
He attached his action camera to a pole and lowered it into the water to document the sharks’ dorsal fin identification numbers.
Eric Mailander, a professional marine photographer, was able to capture rare images of some great white sharks smiling near Santa Cruz County beaches.
But to their surprise, the youngsters were intrigued by the pole and swam towards it, allowing Mailander to capture unique photographs.
‘We’ve all seen the aerial views of the dark shadows of sharks near the coast.
‘They seem to be smiling. I wanted to show what they look like underwater,” she said. KRON4.
Mailander also used a drone camera to capture the movement of the young sharks in the water.
Speaking of the footage, he saying: ”I took this footage a few hours ago at Shark Park and it’s incredible. I was filming this 7 foot great white shark with my drone when suddenly a pup salmon shark appeared (we think) and this great white shark went for it.
“I’m not sure of the outcome, but the white shark reappears near the end of the clip without any shark in its mouth.”
Mailander had been helping Monterey Bay Aquarium scientists track populations off the coast of central California when this unique event occurred.
Mailander, a professional marine photographer, has been photographing more than 20 young great white sharks swimming near New Brighton State Beach with a GoPro.
Mailander had been helping Monterey Bay Aquarium scientists track populations off the coast of central California when this unique event occurred.
The release of these images comes months after images of the first sighting of a newborn great white shark were revealed, capturing the five-foot-long predator swimming off the coast of California.
The newborn great white shark was believed to be just hours old when scientists spotted it just 300 meters off Santa Barbara Beach.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside captured the astonishing photograph revealing that the newborn was losing its embryonic layer in January.
Where great white sharks give birth has always been a mystery as scientists have been unable to track their location, but on July 9, 2023, luck smiled on two filmmakers who were scanning the area for sharks.
A newborn great white shark believed to be only a few hours old was filmed off the coast of Santa Barbara, California in 2023.
“The place where great white sharks give birth is one of the holy grails of shark science,” said wildlife filmmaker Carols Gauna, who took the photographs along with UC Riverside doctoral student Phillip Sternes.
«No one has been able to determine precisely where they are born, nor has anyone seen a newborn baby shark alive.
‘Dead white sharks have been found inside deceased pregnant mothers. But nothing like this.’
Gauna has watched the Santa Barbara coast for years and filmed probably pregnant great white sharks, but while the area is proposed as a possible birthplace, this is the first time there is evidence.