Great White Shark Sleeping Caught on Camera

Researchers recently filmed a great white shark sleeping.
By Chino Mendoza

Ever wonder how great white sharks sleep? Now, no need to wonder. A submersible has captured a video of "Emma" the great white shark sleeping on the east side of Isla Guadalupe in the eastern Pacific Ocean.  

During the day, great white sharks stay in the deep waiting for prey to swim overhead, presenting an oppurtunity to feed. At night, the sharks' behavior is completely different.  The great white shark, Emma, swims near the shoreline and stays close to the bottom, just cruising around Twin Canyons to east of Guadalupe.

At 8:30pm, researchers noticed that Emma opened her mouth while swimming slowly against a 3 km/h current.  She seemed to be in a very relaxed state and might have been taking a nap. With her mouth open, the oxygen rich water flows freely to her gills, which allows her slow down and save energy for the hunting activity during daylight hours.

Due to their size, great white sharks could not stop swimming because they would sink and suffocate.

Check out the video below:

Footage was taken from Shark Week 2016's Jaws of the Deep

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chino Mendoza , is an avid diver and underwater photographer and tries to go everytime he can.  He is based in Manila which is a few hours Anilao which is the “critter capital of the Philippines”  He likes to shoot macro and his favorite subjects are nudibranchs and frogfishes.

Get in touch with him via email at lorenzo@bluewaterphotostore.com

View Chino's work:  Facebook     |     Instagram

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