Are seal populations in decline as well?... because that is the great white preferred food source.
The great whites and seals have this in common... they are both protected.
However the seal still has a number of species above it in the food chain, the white shark none.
In Sydney yesterday a great white tipped a Kayaker into the water and circled while the man was rescued by some fishermen.
If a species is in decline you hardly expect to see more of them than usual do you ???
Also interested in what bases you feel that their population is in decline.
Because of general fish stock decline??? The white is top of the food chain and therefore has multiple food source options.
They have even been documented hunting together recently, so baby whales maybe next on the list.
There are so few shark attacks in Australia for the data to be even remotely statistically significant. it is also important to be mindful of the importance of species at the top of the food chain. For example, when a lion in Africa makes a kill, it feeds large numbers of species from birds, hyennas, microbes that replenish the soil, and a great many other species. In other words, a vital component in a finely balanced ecosystem. Sharks serve the same purpose in the ocean. Similar to many large, land dwelling predators, they also reach a reproductive age only after many years, and breed infrequently. A classic candidate for the endangered list. This, from the Australian Government's website:
Biology and Ecology
Great White Sharks are large, rare, warm-blooded apex marine predators. It is estimated that they mature at 12-18 years for females and 8-10 years for males. Maximum length is 6.4 metres, though specimens of up to 7 metres may exist. Great White Sharks reproduce only one every two to three years and produce between two and ten pups per litter. Further information and references on the biology and ecology of the species can be found in the White Shark Recovery Plan.
Distribution
The Great White Shark is widely distributed throughout temperate and sub-tropical regions in the northern and southern hemispheres. It is most frequently found off Southern Australia, South Africa, northern California and the north-eastern United States. In Australian waters the Great White Shark's range extends primarily from southern Queensland, around the southern coastline and to the North West Cape in Western Australia. Further information and references on the distribution of this species can be found in the White Shark Recovery Plan.
Population status and trends
Despite a general scarcity of data on the Great White Shark's population size, there appears to be an overall, long-term decline in abundance of Great White Sharks in Australian waters. Globally, there has been a reported decline of between 60-95% in Great White Shark numbers in the last 50 years. Detailed information and references on the population status and trends of the species can be found in Australia and Madagascar's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II nomination. Read the Great White Shark CITES nomination.
Threats
The main threats faced by Great White Sharks in Australian waters include interactions with commercial and recreational fisheries, shark control activities, trade, tourism and tag and release activities. Detailed information and references on these threats can be found in the White Shark Recovery Plan.
And from Wikipedia:
Conservation status
It is unclear how much a concurrent increase in fishing for great white sharks had to do with the decline of great white shark population from the 1970s to the present. No accurate numbers on population are available, but populations have clearly declined to a point at which the great white shark is now considered endangered. Their reproduction is slow, with sexual maturity occurring at about 12-15 years of age, the population, therefore, can take a long time to rise.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (C.I.T.E.S.) has put the great white shark on its 'Appendix II' list of endangered species. The shark is targeted by fishermen for its jaws, teeth, and fins, and as a game fish. The great white shark, however, is rarely an object of commercial fishing, although its flesh is considered valuable. If casually captured (it happens for example in some tonnare in the Mediterranean), it is sold as smooth-hound shark.
From April 2007 great white sharks are fully protected within 200 nautical miles (370 km) of New Zealand and additionally from fishing by New Zealand-flagged boats outside this range.[35]