Think of great white sharks , and many of us think of South Africa . With endless nature documentary film being filmed out of the nation ’s bay prove the flowing predators lie in wait and breaching on pelt seal , you would be forgiven for think that this little patch of the sea is a haven for the animate being . But it seems not so .
Over six years , a team of researchers from Stellenbosch University have trail many of the sharks that live on in the region using biopsies and dorsal fin acknowledgement in the with child study of its kind in South Africa . They have concluded that there are only between 350 and 520 bang-up whites cruising the waters off the country ’s slide . “ The numbers in South Africa are extremely low , ” articulate Sara Andreotti , the lead researcher of the study published inMarine Ecology Progress Series , in a instruction .
The issue they settled on is much low-toned than anyone had really considered . In fact , most cerebrate that there were at least double the routine the researcher found . The studyplaces the blamefor the abrupt declivity of the mintage on a number of causes , include prize hunting , shark nets , sea pollution , and baited hooks . All these cistron have lend to the species diminishing at an alarming pace , which is expected to have bump on effects to the devil dog ecosystem .
“ The chance for their survival are even bad than what we previously thought,”continuesAndreotti . “ If the position stays the same , South Africa ’s neat white shark are heading for possible extinction . We have come to the determination that South Africa ’s white shark face a rapid decline in the last generation and that their numbers might already be too abject to assure their survival . ”
From this latest count , despite there being at least around 450 of the animals persisting , the researchers thinkthat only around 333 of these are capable of upbringing . This could be too small a population , the research worker warn , for the shark to live farsighted term into the hereafter , and this could have dire consequences .
The great whites are what is known as an " apex " predator , in that it sits at the very top of the food Sir Ernst Boris Chain , keeping the number of many other species in impediment . For object lesson , if there were no more shark patrolling the Ethel Waters off of South Africa , then the telephone number of Cape fur seals would explode , potentially threaten the local Pisces blood .
But the investigator do write that while things may not be looking great for those shark know off the Cape of Africa , the numeral seen in other populations worldwide appear to be tidy , such as those off the coast in Australia , Canada , and the United States .
