Great White Shark Population Is Healthy and Growing

A new census study shows there are more than 2,400 white sharks off the coast of California.  This is evidence that protective measures should be maintained because they are increasing the size and health of the population. 

A study by a 10-member team led by George H. Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, bolsters a recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determination that the eastern Pacific Ocean population of great white sharks does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.  The great white shark population is healthy and growing, a new census shows.

NOAA(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) began researching the status of the great white shark population in 2013, after the environmental groups Oceana, Shark Stewards and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition calling for endangered species protection.

A 2011 census by UC Davis and Stanford University estimated that only 219 adult and sub-adult great whites lived off the Central California coast, and perhaps double that many were in the entire northeastern Pacific Ocean.  The surprisingly low estimate prompted environmentalists to launch fundraising campaigns to "save the great white shark from extinction," and file the petitions that made the great white the first candidate for listing as an endangered species in California ocean waters.

It appears to have been an overreaction by some environmentalists, as up to 10 times as many sharks may actually exist.  The listing as endangered status for the great white was not warranted.  The environmental groups were too quick on the draw.  Their hearts were in the right place, but their petitions cost taxpayers a lot of money and diverted resources away from species genuinely at risk.