Biology of the White Shark, a Symposium

Sixteen papers were presented during the symposium and asterisks denote the names of authors who have contributed to this volume. Leonard Compagno began with an overview of white shark biology and anatomy followed by Shelton Applegate and Luis Espinosa who presented two papers dealing with the fossil history of the white shark and implications concerning the habits and present status of the recent species. Peter Klimley* and Wes Pratt* and Jack Casey* presented papers on the distribution of white sharks along the California coast and in the western North Atlantic, respectively. Leighton Taylor* presented a paper on historical and contemporary records of white sharks in Hawaii. Three papers dealing with white shark physiology were presented by Frank Carey* (body temperature and capacity for activity), Scott Emery* (hematology, cardiac and gill morphology), and Joel Cohen* and Samuel Gruber* (visual system with emphasis on retinal structure)followed by Gregor Cailliet* who presented information on age and growth. Richard Huddleston presented a paper on stomach and spiral-valve contents of juvenile white sharks. The behavior of white sharks was detailed in four papers presented by John McCosker* (attack behavior and predator/prey strategies), Timothy Tricas* (feeding ethology), Donald Nelson (telemetry of white shark behavior), and David Ainley* (white shark/pinniped interactions at the Farallon Islands). Robert Lea* presented an update on shark attacks off California and Oregon. Bernard Zahuranec offered the concluding remarks. Eleven of the 16 contributed papers appear in this volume