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Field note

Great white shark in 2021: Gansbaai sighting dips

[306] [desk-great-white-shark-5] In 2021, the field log for Great white shark is headed “Gansbaai sighting dips.” The figure kept beside that heading is 1975. It is a count or a date from the work, not a rank of the species’ worth. A zoo birthday card does not replace the log. The icons chapter keeps eight real Wikipedia titles so a later language pack can attach the same faces.

They are regional endotherms. Countercurrent heat exchangers keep muscle and stomach above ambient -- not mammalian homeothermy. Cape fur seals and elephant seals create predictable prey. Cage tourism and research boats stacked on those same reefs. A very large female photographed at Guadalupe and later Hawaii -- a media name, not a stock assessment.

Appendix II in 2004. Papers still move; the listing forces permits and data, not a zero quota. Many coastal adults make basin-scale loops (California-Cafe-Hawaii). Site fidelity to seal colonies is seasonal. Is the species recovering where seals recovered? Cape Cod and parts of California show more sightings as grey seals rebounded. Sightings are not a global Vulnerable reversal.

Great white shark is one of 24 types in this animals atlas. The pages treat it as a full system -- history, anatomy, operating principles, culture, icons, future pressure and market shape -- not a ranking of a best species. Scores compare the great white shark with the other 23 types on speed, intelligence, range, resilience, cultural impact and ecological role. They are relative editorial marks. Resilience high means more secure; low means threatened. Vulnerable globally; Farallones, Gansbaai and Neptune Islands aggregations are better counted than oceanic juveniles.

Keep 2021, “Gansbaai sighting dips,” and 1975 together or the note on Great white shark stops being that year’s record.2021

Figures to keep

Year of the note
2021
Figure to keep
1975
Species
Great white shark
Line in the log
Gansbaai sighting dips

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