Presented by Dr. Sal Jorgensen, marine ecologist, Research Associate, University of California - Santa Cruz

As members of one of the most ancient vertebrate lineages, sharks have roamed the oceans for some 500 Million years persisting through multiple global mass extinction events. Great white sharks, one of the largest predatory shark species, are vast ocean travelers and can be found worldwide. Yet the western coast of North America is home to a unique and genetically isolated population of these feared and often misunderstood predators. Today, these ancient creatures concentrate around key areas at the doorstep of California’s most populated metropolitan areas. What they do, below the surface of the opaque waters has been seldom observed, and has largely remained a mystery. This void of knowledge is often colored by our primal fears, and the enduring narrative of Jaws. In this seminar we will look at some of the discoveries and myths dispelled about great white sharks that have resulted from over a decade and half of research and exploration.

Biography:
Dr. Salvador Jorgensen is a marine ecologist and former Senior Research Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and recently joined UC Santa Cruz as a Research Associate. Jorgensen’s research focuses on the ecology, migration and population dynamics of pelagic fishes and elasmobranchs. He has conducted research in a range of systems from kelp forests, to seamounts, to the open ocean. Jorgensen holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Sonoma State University and a Ph.D. in Ecology from U.C. Davis where he worked on the design of California’s Marine Protected Areas with the Science Advisory Team under the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). During his Ph.D., Jorgensen was also a Fulbright Scholar in Baja California, Mexico, where he studied the ecological processes of fish species assembly around shallow seamounts, and the use of deep hypoxic habitat by hammerhead sharks. Jorgensen completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, where he first became a member of the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) program as lead researcher on white shark tagging and ecology. Over the past decade, Dr. Jorgensen has continued his work on white sharks and other shark and ray species around the world including South Africa and most recently the Galapagos Islands.