THE WASHINGTON POST - A scientist and a wildlife filmmaker have captured what may be rare photos and video of a newborn great white shark, seen swimming just off the California coast near Santa Barbara. The footage, filmed by a drone last July, is stirring up excitement tinged with skepticism among experts who are eager to understand one of the most enigmatic aspects of these fearsome apex predators: where they start out in life.
“I can only speak from my observations, but this shark was moving very — not erratically, but almost like it was exploring stuff uniquely,” said Carlos Gauna, a wildlife filmmaker known as the Malibu Artist on YouTube and Instagram. He found the shark at the end of a long day flying drones from the beach with Phillip Sternes, a shark scientist and graduate student at the University of California at Riverside. “It looked clumsy, the way it was swimming. It was kind of wobbly.”