Introduction Many paleontologists are very interested in living groups, because the study of the living organisms can both unlock their evolutionary history and provide important keys towards interpreting their fossil record. Some living groups have ancient histories. Unlike the true fishes, sharks do not have internal bone, but instead have a cartilaginous skeleton. Although many people are told that sharks are primitive in comparison to other groups, this is not true.
Many sharks are efficient and specialized hunters that have thrived for millions of years.
Scientists from several organizations throughout California including the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, the Marine Mammal Center, the California Academy of Sciences , Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory, California Department of Fish and Game, and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at U.C. Berkeley, have been studying white sharks and their prey for several years in hopes to better understand their behavior and ecology. Food and Feeding Behavior White sharks are predatory animals that begin life by feeding on fish, rays, and other sharks, and as they grow, switch to feeding on marine mammals and scavenging on large animal carcasses. Their first mammalian prey are usually the small harbor seal, but as the sharks increase in size, they become large enough to eat sea lions, elephant seals, and small toothed whales. Attack strategy consists of a swift, surprise attack from below, inflicting a large, potentially fatal bite. The pinniped often dies from massive trauma or blood loss, but the bites may be superficial or misplaced on the body, allowing the seal to escape and survive the attacks with their scars as witness.