September 15, 2025 • 13 mins
Great white shark DNA is one of the most puzzling mysteries in marine biology. Recent research has revealed that despite being one species, great whites have split into three distinct genetic groups across the globe. What’s even stranger: their nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA tell conflicting stories, leaving scientists scratching their heads.
Shark philopatry—the tendency of females to return to their birthplace to give birth—adds another layer to this mystery. While philopatry has been well documented in species like lemon sharks and blacktip sharks, great whites show patterns that don’t neatly fit the rules. This episode unpacks how philopatry and DNA research intersect, why sharks defy easy explanations, and how these puzzles matter for conservation.
Shark conservation depends on solving these mysteries. If different populations are genetically distinct, protecting one region isn’t enough. By understanding how sharks move, breed, and adapt, we can build stronger policies, create better marine protected areas, and ensure these apex predators survive in a rapidly changing ocean.
Link to article: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-dna-of-great-white-sharks-defies-explanation-heres-why?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Join the Undertow: https://www.speakupforblue.com/jointheundertow
Connect with Speak Up For Blue
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc
YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Today I'm gonna be talkingabout great white shark DNA, and
you're probably wondering why.
What does it matter?
Because it's an enigma, it's a mystery.
It's generally just weird.
And we're gonna talk about whyit's important to talk about how
weird great white shark, DNA isand why we need to understand how
it happened and what's happening.
(00:21):
That's what we're gonna talkabout on this episode of the How
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to another exciting episodeof the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, andthis is the podcast where you find
out what's happening with the ocean,how you can speak up for the ocean,
and what you can do to live fora better ocean by taking action.
On today's episode, we're gonnabe talking about an article
(00:41):
that came out in Science Alert.
It was a really interesting article.
It came out earlier in August,but it was something that I
found that needed to be shared.
Carly Cassella, I believeis how you pronounce it.
This is part of the naturecategory for Science.
Alert wrote this and she titledit, The DNA of Great White Sharks
Defies Explanation and Here is Why.
So let's talk about great white sharks.
(01:02):
Like great white sharks, since the movieJaws, and by the way, it's Jaw's 50th
anniversary this year, back in June,have really captured the minds and the
fears of humans all around the world.
It captured it so much that afterpeople watching Jaws, including myself,
I was a kid when I watched Jaws.
I was probably nine or 10when I first watched it.
I had trouble swimming in pools.
(01:22):
I had trouble swimming in lakes.
I always thought like, there'sa great white in my bathtub
potentially.
The imagination of sharks and whatthey could do and where they could
go after watching Jaws was amazing.
They became feared quite a bit.
It also spurred a lot of funding tofind out more about great white sharks,
and we have learned a lot because thefunding has been there, researchers
(01:45):
have been there, and if you listento Beyond Jaws in any point in time,
you know that there is literally ageneration of scientists that we coined
the jaws generation because that's howthey cut their teeth so to speak, no pun
intended, within the shark science world.
And they learned a lot more,not only about great whites,
but a lot of other sharks.
but it is different.
(02:05):
Like great white sharks are builtdifferent and they're a great
conservation success story, notonly on the west coast, but also
on the east coast of North America.
And we're seeing more and more and we'reseeing them, just, I guess, lengthen or
increase their distribution every day.
Now we're starting to see more andmore great white sharks in Nova Scotia,
which was a rare sighting, just afew, like five or six years ago.
(02:28):
I don't know if it's just 'cause we'researching more, that we have more
researchers out there looking at it.
But it didn't happen often.
Now it's happening this summerseems to be the summer of the great
white shark over in Nova Scotia,and we've learned a lot about this,
especially with tracking sharks.
We've learned about where they go.
We've learned about thedifferent populations, and that's
where this article comes in,
It used to be before the Ice age 10,000years ago, there was one population
(02:50):
of great white sharks, genetically.
That's what it was.
Now there's a distinct threegroups that have emerged.
So one in the North Pacific, one in theSouth Pacific in Indian Ocean, and one
in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean.
So this is intriguingto say the least, right?
Because you know, the geneticevidence suggests that these groups
all stem from a single populationthat survived the Ice Age.
(03:13):
So 10,000 years ago before spreadinginto today's three different groups.
Yet, despite knowing these geneticdivisions exist, mitochondrial DNA and
nuclear DNA do not line up, meaningthat the common explanations like
migration and breeding patterns
aren't enough to explainthe three different groups.
So the mystery remains unsolved and sothis is what you kind of need to know.
(03:37):
Before we get into trying toexplain what's been happening.
You might be wondering why wecare about a genetic mismatch.
You know, understanding populationstructure is essential for conservation.
So population resilience.
So genetic diversity helpspopulation adapt to change.
the more diverse you have populations,so the genetic diversity of
each population matters, right?
(03:59):
Because if you lose one population,you'll still get another population.
'cause the genetic differences might bethe reason why that population survives.
So for instance, if you have two sharkpopulations with different genetic
makeups and there's one populationthat just can't find, like say it
has a food that it really likes oneday and that food disappears, then,
you know, you lose that population.
(04:20):
But the other population that'sgenetically different has the ability
to be able to say, Hey, you knowwhat, I can eat a bunch of different
things so I don't have to worry aboutthis population that's gone, but
you still have a great white there.
So having that genetic differences,whatever reason, a population disappears,
whether it's food, whether it's anice age, whatever that might be.
this is really important tostabilize the overall species.
(04:42):
It's exactly how a lot of the zoosand aquariums are founded on the basis
that they're founded on, and how theirbreeding programs work to ensure that
they preserve the genetic diversity of aspecies in order to ever, they have to,
bring those back to the wild torepopulate and to stabilize the
species that may have been justdegraded of their species, diversity
(05:04):
in the wild for one reason or another.
So having that resilienceis really important.
Genetic diversity is such animportant aspect of biodiversity
and just conservation managementand also management planning.
If distinct groups exist, protectionsmust be tailored to each of those regions.
Not a one size fits all sort of area.
So the genetic differences might requireunique management approaches, and that's
(05:27):
gonna be important in conservation.
And then of course, there'sthe threat assessment.
Knowing how populations intermix helpsus track human impacts, climate effects
as well as fishing pressure and more.
So this is somethingthat's really important.
So basically, in short, resolvingthe DNA mysteries gives us the
tools to better protect great whitesand the ecosystems they anchor.
(05:48):
You have to remember that.
When a great white is in the mixof a population of a food web, it
controls that food web a lot of thetimes, unless there's orcas around.
But when you see the disappearanceof great whites, whether it be
'cause of orcas or whether it be'cause of phishing pressure or lack
of food, it changes the makeup of afood web, which changes the entire
ecosystem, whether it be for good or forbad, depending on what you consider good
(06:10):
and bad in an area, but it makes change.
So ensuring that these populationsstay intact and make sure that we have
conservation measures to make surethese great whites are there, then it
makes a difference even as great whitesmove into new ecosystems because of
climate change, warmer waters, or thefact that they're trying to get away
from competition and extend their range
that also matters in terms ofhow we conserve a specific area.
(06:32):
'cause a number of great whites showingup within an ecosystem will change
that food web of that ecosystem andchange the predator prey dynamics.
That's really important.
So it's a big thing ofwhy it matters, right?
It's something that we need to know.
But let's get back into the genetic puzzlebecause like diving into this article,
they're wondering, how does this happen?
How do we see differences inmitochondrial DNA and or nucleus DNA?
(06:54):
that's a big thing.
And we're gonna get into a bitof science here, but I think it's
important to understand the differencebetween the different DNA, right?
Because that's somethingthat's really important.
So nuclear DNA is packagedinside the nucleus of a cell.
So that's why it's called nuclearDNA, hence the name, right?
But mitochondrial DNA is packagedinside the mitochondria, which
(07:15):
turns out energy out for the cell.
So very different sort of functionsof mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA.
So unlike nuclear DNA, this is quotingfrom the article, which is inherited
from both parents, mitochondrial DNA isthought to be inherited from the mother
in most multicellularanimals, sharks included.
(07:35):
So because mitochondrial DNA can tracea maternal line, conservation biologists
have used it for years to identifypopulation boundaries and migration paths.
So what that looks like is that, whenyou start to look at how, especially
sharks, some sharks, the mothers will goback to the place where they bred last.
So it's called philopatry.
(07:57):
I don't know if I'm pronouncing it, thisis a new term for me, but essentially what
happens is the mother will go back to thesame place and will mix DNA with the male
and then will put out some offspring.
That is important to tracingwhere things are going.
But however, when it comes to greatwhites, the method isn't working.
So even after using one of thelargest data sets of great white
sharks globally, researchershave come up like empty handed.
(08:21):
So previously scientists suspectedthat changes in the mitochondrial DNA
were due to female sharks returning tothe birthplace to reproduce a concept
known as females philopatry, I thinkI'm pronouncing that properly, but
the hypothesis is even supported by therecent observational evidence, which
suggests that while both male and femalesharks travel vast distances, females
return home when it's time to mate.
(08:42):
When the researchers and one of themain researchers of Gavin Naylor and
colleagues put that into the idea,to the test, however, it failed to
explain the groups of mitochondrial DNA.
So the sequencing of 150 greatwhite sharks from around the world,
the sequencing of the genes,Naylor and his team found no
evidence of female philopatry.
A small signal would be expected innuclear DNA if females were the only
(09:07):
breeding within certain populations.
But that wasn't reflectedin the nuclear data at all.
So even when the team ran an evolutionarysimulation showing how sharks might
have split off into three groups sincetheir last shared ancestor, it came
up that the hypothesis didn't stand.
Gavin Naylor's quote is, I came upwith the idea that sex ratios might
be different that just a few femaleswere contributing to the populations
(09:30):
from one generation to the next.
So like only a fewfemales were reproducing.
That also failed to explain thegenetic differences so did random
genetic changes that accumulateover time called genetic drift.
There's a really cool graphic here lookingat divergence of great white lineages.
So I highly recommend thatyou click the link in the
description to get the article.
Because they're looking at, you know,divergence of great white sharks
(09:51):
lineages based on genome sequencing,it's really cool 'cause you see
how there are some DNA that's mixedinto these different populations and
sometimes it just doesn't make sense.
The team argues that analternative evolutionary mechanism
must necessarily be operating.
So there's something else going on here.
Right, and so, but the only other knownexplanation is the natural selection may
(10:11):
have honed in each group's mitochondrialDNA, and that seems pretty far fetched.
So there are only 20,000 greatwhite sharks in the world, which
is a very small population.
Relatively speaking, whenyou look at other species,
if there's something beneficial in theevolution of some forms of mitochondrial
DNA, then it would have to save thesharks from something brutally lethal.
(10:32):
This is what Gavin's saying, Gavin Naylor.
So Gavin has doubts that thisis the case, like some piece of
the puzzle is clearly missing.
As he says, the mitochondrial DNAobserved in natural populations
was never reproduced in any of thesimulations, even under extreme phenol
philopatry, suggesting that other forceshave contributed to the discordance.
(10:53):
Right.
So the same approach would benefitother species of shark where female
philopatry has previously beenassumed based on genetic data.
So there's a lot of mystery aroundhere, which we don't even know
why this is happening, right?
We just don't understand it.
But to understand the DNA could be a keyto unlocking how to manage great white
sharks properly and how to manage otherspecies that might show the same thing.
(11:16):
You know, there are other sharksthat have similar philopatry,
like female philopatry.
Some of them include uh,I'm just looking here.
I have a list.
Lemon sharks, blacktip sharks,sandbar sharks, tiger sharks, nurse
sharks, reef associated sharks,like, whitetip reef sharks.
That's a huge thing.
And you are probablywondering why does it matter?
'cause returning to specific poppinggrounds means that the protection
(11:38):
of small critical nursery habitatscan safeguard generations of sharks.
So just having a marine protectedarea in a popping zone, that is
huge to protecting these sharks.
Of course, keeping the genetic structure.
So philopatry leads to distinctsubpopulations, making localized
overfishing more damaging.
So being careful of that and managementusing marine protected areas must consider
(11:59):
these natal sites to be effective.
So when we actually look and we want tomake sure that everything is protected,
we can look at these smaller sitesand say, Hey, this is a popping zone.
We know this is a popping zonebecause these sharks keep coming back
to this area, these female sharks.
This is important.
We have to protect this.
This is a very important area.
If the sharks get fished duringthis time, it's gonna destroy
(12:20):
the population eventually.
So that's something that'svery important as well.
So that's where we're gonna leave it.
It's really just a mystery.
It's weird.
Great white shark DNA is weird.
And we have to understand that we'regonna need more research to find out why
it's so weird and how to explain thesediversions into these three groups.
Very interesting article.
(12:41):
Something that I want to share with you.
So if you have any questions or comments,please let me know in the comments.
If you're watching this on YouTubeor you want to get ahold of me,
there's a number of different ways.
You can go to Instagram atHow to Protect the Ocean.
Just message me.
You can go to speak upfor blue.com/contact.
Just fill out the form, goes to myemail, or you can hit me up on TikTok.
Just DM me, at speak Up for Blue.
(13:03):
I wanna thank you so much forjoining me on today's episode of the
How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin fromthe True Nordstrom and Free.
Have a great day.
We'll talk to you next timeand happy conservation.
Today I'm gonna be talkingabout great white shark DNA, and
you're probably wondering why.
What does it matter?
Because it's an enigma, it's a mystery.
It's generally just weird.
And we're gonna talk about whyit's important to talk about how
weird great white shark, DNA isand why we need to understand how
it happened and what's happening.
(00:21):
That's what we're gonna talkabout on this episode of the How
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to another exciting episodeof the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, andthis is the podcast where you find
out what's happening with the ocean,how you can speak up for the ocean,
and what you can do to live fora better ocean by taking action.
On today's episode, we're gonnabe talking about an article
(00:41):
that came out in Science Alert.
It was a really interesting article.
It came out earlier in August,but it was something that I
found that needed to be shared.
Carly Cassella, I believeis how you pronounce it.
This is part of the naturecategory for Science.
Alert wrote this and she titledit, The DNA of Great White Sharks
Defies Explanation and Here is Why.
So let's talk about great white sharks.
(01:02):
Like great white sharks, since the movieJaws, and by the way, it's Jaw's 50th
anniversary this year, back in June,have really captured the minds and the
fears of humans all around the world.
It captured it so much that afterpeople watching Jaws, including myself,
I was a kid when I watched Jaws.
I was probably nine or 10when I first watched it.
I had trouble swimming in pools.
(01:22):
I had trouble swimming in lakes.
I always thought like, there'sa great white in my bathtub
potentially.
The imagination of sharks and whatthey could do and where they could
go after watching Jaws was amazing.
They became feared quite a bit.
It also spurred a lot of funding tofind out more about great white sharks,
and we have learned a lot because thefunding has been there, researchers
(01:45):
have been there, and if you listento Beyond Jaws in any point in time,
you know that there is literally ageneration of scientists that we coined
the jaws generation because that's howthey cut their teeth so to speak, no pun
intended, within the shark science world.
And they learned a lot more,not only about great whites,
but a lot of other sharks.
but it is different.
(02:05):
Like great white sharks are builtdifferent and they're a great
conservation success story, notonly on the west coast, but also
on the east coast of North America.
And we're seeing more and more and we'reseeing them, just, I guess, lengthen or
increase their distribution every day.
Now we're starting to see more andmore great white sharks in Nova Scotia,
which was a rare sighting, just afew, like five or six years ago.
(02:28):
I don't know if it's just 'cause we'researching more, that we have more
researchers out there looking at it.
But it didn't happen often.
Now it's happening this summerseems to be the summer of the great
white shark over in Nova Scotia,and we've learned a lot about this,
especially with tracking sharks.
We've learned about where they go.
We've learned about thedifferent populations, and that's
where this article comes in,
It used to be before the Ice age 10,000years ago, there was one population
(02:50):
of great white sharks, genetically.
That's what it was.
Now there's a distinct threegroups that have emerged.
So one in the North Pacific, one in theSouth Pacific in Indian Ocean, and one
in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean.
So this is intriguingto say the least, right?
Because you know, the geneticevidence suggests that these groups
all stem from a single populationthat survived the Ice Age.
(03:13):
So 10,000 years ago before spreadinginto today's three different groups.
Yet, despite knowing these geneticdivisions exist, mitochondrial DNA and
nuclear DNA do not line up, meaningthat the common explanations like
migration and breeding patterns
aren't enough to explainthe three different groups.
So the mystery remains unsolved and sothis is what you kind of need to know.
(03:37):
Before we get into trying toexplain what's been happening.
You might be wondering why wecare about a genetic mismatch.
You know, understanding populationstructure is essential for conservation.
So population resilience.
So genetic diversity helpspopulation adapt to change.
the more diverse you have populations,so the genetic diversity of
each population matters, right?
(03:59):
Because if you lose one population,you'll still get another population.
'cause the genetic differences might bethe reason why that population survives.
So for instance, if you have two sharkpopulations with different genetic
makeups and there's one populationthat just can't find, like say it
has a food that it really likes oneday and that food disappears, then,
you know, you lose that population.
(04:20):
But the other population that'sgenetically different has the ability
to be able to say, Hey, you knowwhat, I can eat a bunch of different
things so I don't have to worry aboutthis population that's gone, but
you still have a great white there.
So having that genetic differences,whatever reason, a population disappears,
whether it's food, whether it's anice age, whatever that might be.
this is really important tostabilize the overall species.
(04:42):
It's exactly how a lot of the zoosand aquariums are founded on the basis
that they're founded on, and how theirbreeding programs work to ensure that
they preserve the genetic diversity of aspecies in order to ever, they have to,
bring those back to the wild torepopulate and to stabilize the
species that may have been justdegraded of their species, diversity
(05:04):
in the wild for one reason or another.
So having that resilienceis really important.
Genetic diversity is such animportant aspect of biodiversity
and just conservation managementand also management planning.
If distinct groups exist, protectionsmust be tailored to each of those regions.
Not a one size fits all sort of area.
So the genetic differences might requireunique management approaches, and that's
(05:27):
gonna be important in conservation.
And then of course, there'sthe threat assessment.
Knowing how populations intermix helpsus track human impacts, climate effects
as well as fishing pressure and more.
So this is somethingthat's really important.
So basically, in short, resolvingthe DNA mysteries gives us the
tools to better protect great whitesand the ecosystems they anchor.
(05:48):
You have to remember that.
When a great white is in the mixof a population of a food web, it
controls that food web a lot of thetimes, unless there's orcas around.
But when you see the disappearanceof great whites, whether it be
'cause of orcas or whether it be'cause of phishing pressure or lack
of food, it changes the makeup of afood web, which changes the entire
ecosystem, whether it be for good or forbad, depending on what you consider good
(06:10):
and bad in an area, but it makes change.
So ensuring that these populationsstay intact and make sure that we have
conservation measures to make surethese great whites are there, then it
makes a difference even as great whitesmove into new ecosystems because of
climate change, warmer waters, or thefact that they're trying to get away
from competition and extend their range
that also matters in terms ofhow we conserve a specific area.
(06:32):
'cause a number of great whites showingup within an ecosystem will change
that food web of that ecosystem andchange the predator prey dynamics.
That's really important.
So it's a big thing ofwhy it matters, right?
It's something that we need to know.
But let's get back into the genetic puzzlebecause like diving into this article,
they're wondering, how does this happen?
How do we see differences inmitochondrial DNA and or nucleus DNA?
(06:54):
that's a big thing.
And we're gonna get into a bitof science here, but I think it's
important to understand the differencebetween the different DNA, right?
Because that's somethingthat's really important.
So nuclear DNA is packagedinside the nucleus of a cell.
So that's why it's called nuclearDNA, hence the name, right?
But mitochondrial DNA is packagedinside the mitochondria, which
(07:15):
turns out energy out for the cell.
So very different sort of functionsof mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA.
So unlike nuclear DNA, this is quotingfrom the article, which is inherited
from both parents, mitochondrial DNA isthought to be inherited from the mother
in most multicellularanimals, sharks included.
(07:35):
So because mitochondrial DNA can tracea maternal line, conservation biologists
have used it for years to identifypopulation boundaries and migration paths.
So what that looks like is that, whenyou start to look at how, especially
sharks, some sharks, the mothers will goback to the place where they bred last.
So it's called philopatry.
(07:57):
I don't know if I'm pronouncing it, thisis a new term for me, but essentially what
happens is the mother will go back to thesame place and will mix DNA with the male
and then will put out some offspring.
That is important to tracingwhere things are going.
But however, when it comes to greatwhites, the method isn't working.
So even after using one of thelargest data sets of great white
sharks globally, researchershave come up like empty handed.
(08:21):
So previously scientists suspectedthat changes in the mitochondrial DNA
were due to female sharks returning tothe birthplace to reproduce a concept
known as females philopatry, I thinkI'm pronouncing that properly, but
the hypothesis is even supported by therecent observational evidence, which
suggests that while both male and femalesharks travel vast distances, females
return home when it's time to mate.
(08:42):
When the researchers and one of themain researchers of Gavin Naylor and
colleagues put that into the idea,to the test, however, it failed to
explain the groups of mitochondrial DNA.
So the sequencing of 150 greatwhite sharks from around the world,
the sequencing of the genes,Naylor and his team found no
evidence of female philopatry.
A small signal would be expected innuclear DNA if females were the only
(09:07):
breeding within certain populations.
But that wasn't reflectedin the nuclear data at all.
So even when the team ran an evolutionarysimulation showing how sharks might
have split off into three groups sincetheir last shared ancestor, it came
up that the hypothesis didn't stand.
Gavin Naylor's quote is, I came upwith the idea that sex ratios might
be different that just a few femaleswere contributing to the populations
(09:30):
from one generation to the next.
So like only a fewfemales were reproducing.
That also failed to explain thegenetic differences so did random
genetic changes that accumulateover time called genetic drift.
There's a really cool graphic here lookingat divergence of great white lineages.
So I highly recommend thatyou click the link in the
description to get the article.
Because they're looking at, you know,divergence of great white sharks
(09:51):
lineages based on genome sequencing,it's really cool 'cause you see
how there are some DNA that's mixedinto these different populations and
sometimes it just doesn't make sense.
The team argues that analternative evolutionary mechanism
must necessarily be operating.
So there's something else going on here.
Right, and so, but the only other knownexplanation is the natural selection may
(10:11):
have honed in each group's mitochondrialDNA, and that seems pretty far fetched.
So there are only 20,000 greatwhite sharks in the world, which
is a very small population.
Relatively speaking, whenyou look at other species,
if there's something beneficial in theevolution of some forms of mitochondrial
DNA, then it would have to save thesharks from something brutally lethal.
(10:32):
This is what Gavin's saying, Gavin Naylor.
So Gavin has doubts that thisis the case, like some piece of
the puzzle is clearly missing.
As he says, the mitochondrial DNAobserved in natural populations
was never reproduced in any of thesimulations, even under extreme phenol
philopatry, suggesting that other forceshave contributed to the discordance.
(10:53):
Right.
So the same approach would benefitother species of shark where female
philopatry has previously beenassumed based on genetic data.
So there's a lot of mystery aroundhere, which we don't even know
why this is happening, right?
We just don't understand it.
But to understand the DNA could be a keyto unlocking how to manage great white
sharks properly and how to manage otherspecies that might show the same thing.
(11:16):
You know, there are other sharksthat have similar philopatry,
like female philopatry.
Some of them include uh,I'm just looking here.
I have a list.
Lemon sharks, blacktip sharks,sandbar sharks, tiger sharks, nurse
sharks, reef associated sharks,like, whitetip reef sharks.
That's a huge thing.
And you are probablywondering why does it matter?
'cause returning to specific poppinggrounds means that the protection
(11:38):
of small critical nursery habitatscan safeguard generations of sharks.
So just having a marine protectedarea in a popping zone, that is
huge to protecting these sharks.
Of course, keeping the genetic structure.
So philopatry leads to distinctsubpopulations, making localized
overfishing more damaging.
So being careful of that and managementusing marine protected areas must consider
(11:59):
these natal sites to be effective.
So when we actually look and we want tomake sure that everything is protected,
we can look at these smaller sitesand say, Hey, this is a popping zone.
We know this is a popping zonebecause these sharks keep coming back
to this area, these female sharks.
This is important.
We have to protect this.
This is a very important area.
If the sharks get fished duringthis time, it's gonna destroy
(12:20):
the population eventually.
So that's something that'svery important as well.
So that's where we're gonna leave it.
It's really just a mystery.
It's weird.
Great white shark DNA is weird.
And we have to understand that we'regonna need more research to find out why
it's so weird and how to explain thesediversions into these three groups.
Very interesting article.
(12:41):
Something that I want to share with you.
So if you have any questions or comments,please let me know in the comments.
If you're watching this on YouTubeor you want to get ahold of me,
there's a number of different ways.
You can go to Instagram atHow to Protect the Ocean.
Just message me.
You can go to speak upfor blue.com/contact.
Just fill out the form, goes to myemail, or you can hit me up on TikTok.
Just DM me, at speak Up for Blue.
(13:03):
I wanna thank you so much forjoining me on today's episode of the
How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin fromthe True Nordstrom and Free.
Have a great day.
We'll talk to you next timeand happy conservation.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!