Great white sharks are not known for their speed, so for Matt Larmand it was surprising to watch a young white shark sprint across the surface at perhaps 20 mph.
“He was going at least 20 mph,” Larmand told For The Win Outdoors. “I was going full throttle on the drone trying to catch up to him.”
Larmand, an licensed drone pilot for Dana Wharf Whale Watching, captured the accompanying footage Thursday from his home on Capistrano Beach in Dana Point, Ca.
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Capo Beach, as the community is referred to by locals, sometimes attracts juvenile white sharks in late spring and summer.
The sharks, often spotted just beyond the surf zone, prey on stingrays and other bottom fishes until they become large enough – 12-plus feet – to move offshore to feed on seals and sea lions.
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Larmand launched his drone after receiving reports of recent sightings. It was his first sighting of the season and he estimated the shark to measure 8 to 10 feet.
“I’m not sure what triggered him to burst into speed like that; I’ve never seen one do that,” he said, adding that the sprint covered about 50 yards.
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Chris Lowe, Director of the Shark Lab at California State University – Long Beach, told For The Win Outdoors that he the shark appears to have been spooked by the drone’s shadow.
“Those neonates are pretty skittish,” Lowe said. “Seeing the drone shadow gave it a pretty good scare.”
Lowe added:
“I think it brings about the point of one of our hypotheses as to why young white sharks use beach habitats. We aren’t sure where white sharks give birth, we know they do not exhibit parental care, so babies are completely on their own. They probably hang out in shallow water near beaches because that is a safer place with very few large predators, lots of easy to capture prey (stingrays), and the water’s warmer.
“This response to the shadow of the drone supports one reason why they hang out in shallow waters. They don’t know what is a threat and the safest behavior is to flee when they experience something unknown.
“What’s also interesting is that babies will exhibit this rapid flight in one direction, while older sharks will do a loop around when scared. This doubling back on a potential threat is a typical predator behavior to prevent a rear attack.”
Larmand spotted the same shark later Thursday, “cruising up and down the coast” at normal speed (see second video).
Mako sharks are the fastest sharks, capable of bursts in excess of 40 mph as they chase prey such as tuna, mackerel, and swordfish.
Great white sharks, which can measure to about 20 feet, become much bulkier as adults and rely on ambush to catch their prey.