Rogues Gallery: The Great White Shark (center) joins the ranks of infamous serial killers. Clockwise from upper left: Richard Speck, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Whitman, John Wayne Gacy, Charlie Manson, Dennis Radar (BTK Killer), Ed Gein (technically not a serial killer but one weird dude), Ted Bundy, David (Son of Sam) Berkowitz, and Henry Lee Lucas.
Courtesy Public Domain image composite by Mark RyanA new study published in the Journal of Zoology likens the predatory behavior of great white sharks to that of human serial killers.
Both the sharks and their human serial-killing counterparts use geographic profiling to hunt their prey. Co-author Neil Hammerschlag, a University of Miami researcher in the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences says the predators “must get close enough to check out prey and figure out their movements, but they also must be far enough way so that they themselves won't be easily tracked. They must use known traveling routes. For human killers, these would be things like subways, buses and freeways. For great whites, these would include channels, reef edges and other topographical features."
In the waters off Seal Island in South Africa's False Bay, the research team (which included a criminal-profiling retired police officer) observed adult sharks launching their attacks from very focused anchor points just like serial killers lurk about familiar territory as they cruise for hapless victims. They found the sharks positioned themselves about 100 yards from the island in 80 feet of water, close enough for attack but far enough away to remain undetected. The depth and distance also allowed the predators to build up enough speed to start the attack.
Whether this behavior applies to all human serial killers, I’m not sure. For example, I don’t know that the Manson family stalked any of their victims, and Richard Hitchcock and Perry Smith (of In Cold Blood notoriety) originally selected the Clutter family in Kansas for robbery purposes, but in general the comparisons are interesting.
LINKS
LiveScience story
Discover.com story
ScienceDaily story
Tags :
Here's some incredible video of killer whales coming ashore to hunt sealions. Keep watching, they also like to play with their food. Warning: Real sealions were harmed in the making of this video.
Sometimes, there isn't safety in numbers. And most of the time, I think, it's probably a bummer to be a sardine. But it's really tough to be one of these sardines!
More cool video and an explanation of how all that was caught on film here.
I just downloaded the Raptor Resource 2008 Project Banding Report (how's that for a little light reading?), and I found the following:
"We removed the High Bridge stack nest box after the 2007 nesting season. Xcel Energy was converting from a coal facility to natural gas turbine operation, and planned to raze the stack some time in early 2008. We installed a replacement nest box on the nearby ADM stackhouse, but it appears that the falcons chose to nest under the nearby High Bridge instead."
All spring we watched and waited, and the birds were there all along! I'll get in touch with the folks at Xcel and Raptor Resource and see what we can do about watching the peregrines during the 2009 nesting season.
No, not the defunct hockey team. And not the minor league baseball team. No, we're talking about the big, snarly cat kind. No need to introduce dangerous predators into North America – they’re already here!
We've recently posted some pretty cool predator/prey videos here on the Buzz. Here's one more to take a look at...what happens when a pride of lion cubs find a porcupine strolling by.
Subscribe
I want to learn about
Science Buzz is supported by the National Science Foundation.Copyright © Science Museum of Minnesota, 2004-2010, except where noted.
Add a new comment