How to Identify White Sharks

While you can technically use a variety of these techniques to identify different individuals from a wide range of species, for the purposes of this 'Challenge', we want you to focus on identifying individual white sharks.  To do this, we use white shark characteristics such as:  the notch pattern on the trailing edge of the dorsal fin, unique pigmentation patterns around the gills, pelvic fins, and lower caudal (tail) region, the sex of the animal, and unique scaring that is present on various parts of the body.  The following images  are examples of some of these characteristics, but another trick that may help when viewing our videos is where the videos are taken.  For example, you are very unlikely to see the same white shark in New York, USA and Guadalupe Island, Mexico as these are considered different populations of white sharks.  So if the white sharks look similar, look very closely and take location into context to help you with coming up with the total quantity.