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Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his "Systema Naturae", its first scientific name, "Squalus carcharias". Later, Sir Andrew Smith gave it "Carcharodon" as its generic name in 1833, and also in 1873. The generic name was identified with Linnaeus' specific name and the current scientific name, "Carcharodon carcharias", was finalized. "Carcharodon" comes from the Ancient Greek words (, 'sharp' or 'jagged'), and (), (, 'tooth').
## Ancestry and fossil record.
The earliest known fossils of the great white shark are about 16 million years old, during the mid-Miocene epoch. However, the phylogeny of the great white is still in dispute. The original hypothesis for the great white's origins
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is that it shares a common ancestor with a prehistoric shark, such as the "C. megalodon". "C. megalodon" had teeth that were superficially not too dissimilar with those of great white sharks, but its teeth were far larger. Although cartilaginous skeletons do not fossilize, "C. megalodon" is estimated to have been considerably larger than the great white shark, estimated at up to and . Similarities among the physical remains and the extreme size of both the great white and "C. megalodon" led many scientists to believe these sharks were closely related, and the name "Carcharodon megalodon" was applied to the latter. However, a new hypothesis proposes that the "C. megalodon" and the great white
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are distant relatives (albeit sharing the family Lamnidae). The great white is also more closely related to an ancient mako shark, "Isurus hastalis", than to the "C. megalodon", a theory that seems to be supported with the discovery of a complete set of jaws with 222 teeth and 45 vertebrae of the extinct transitional species "Carcharodon hubbelli" in 1988 and published on 14 November 2012. In addition, the new hypothesis assigns "C. megalodon" to the genus "Carcharocles", which also comprises the other megatoothed sharks; "Otodus obliquus" is the ancient representative of the extinct "Carcharocles" lineage.
# Distribution and habitat.
Great white sharks live in almost all coastal and offshore
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waters which have water temperature between , with greater concentrations in the United States (Northeast and California), South Africa, Japan, Oceania, Chile, and the Mediterranean including Sea of Marmara and Bosphorus. One of the densest known populations is found around Dyer Island, South Africa.
The great white is an epipelagic fish, observed mostly in the presence of rich game, such as fur seals ("Arctocephalus" ssp.), sea lions, cetaceans, other sharks, and large bony fish species. In the open ocean, it has been recorded at depths as great as . These findings challenge the traditional notion that the great white is a coastal species.
According to a recent study, California great whites
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have migrated to an area between Baja California Peninsula and Hawaii known as the White Shark Café to spend at least 100 days before migrating back to Baja. On the journey out, they swim slowly and dive down to around . After they arrive, they change behavior and do short dives to about for up to ten minutes. Another white shark that was tagged off the South African coast swam to the southern coast of Australia and back within the year. A similar study tracked a different great white shark from South Africa swimming to Australia's northwestern coast and back, a journey of in under nine months.
These observations argue against traditional theories that white sharks are coastal territorial predators,
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and open up the possibility of interaction between shark populations that were previously thought to have been discrete. The reasons for their migration and what they do at their destination is still unknown. Possibilities include seasonal feeding or mating.
A 2018 study indicated that white sharks prefer to congregate deep in anticyclonic eddies in the North Atlantic Ocean. The sharks studied tended to favor the warm water eddies, spending the daytime hours at 450 meters and coming to the surface at night.
# Anatomy and appearance.
The great white shark has a robust, large, conical snout. The upper and lower lobes on the tail fin are approximately the same size which is similar to some mackerel
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sharks. A great white displays countershading, by having a white underside and a grey dorsal area (sometimes in a brown or blue shade) that gives an overall mottled appearance. The coloration makes it difficult for prey to spot the shark because it breaks up the shark's outline when seen from the side. From above, the darker shade blends with the sea and from below it exposes a minimal silhouette against the sunlight. Leucism is extremely rare in this species, but has been documented in one great white shark (a pup that washed ashore in Australia and died). Great white sharks, like many other sharks, have rows of serrated teeth behind the main ones, ready to replace any that break off. When
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the shark bites, it shakes its head side-to-side, helping the teeth saw off large chunks of flesh. Great white sharks, like other mackerel sharks, have larger eyes than other shark species in proportion to their body size. The iris of the eye is a deep blue instead of black.
## Size.
In great white sharks, sexual dimorphism is present, and females are generally larger than males. Male great whites on average measure long, while females at . Adults of this species weigh on average, however mature females can have an average mass of . The largest females have been verified up to in length and an estimated in weight, perhaps up to . The maximum size is subject to debate because some reports are
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rough estimations or speculations performed under questionable circumstances. Among living cartilaginous fish, only the whale shark ("Rhincodon typus"), the basking shark ("Cetorhinus maximus") and the giant manta ray ("Manta birostris"), in that order, are on average larger and heavier. These three species are generally quite docile in disposition and given to passively filter-feeding on very small organisms. This makes the great white shark the largest extant macropredatory fish. Great white sharks are at around when born, and grow about each year.
According to J. E. Randall, the largest white shark reliably measured was a individual reported from Ledge Point, Western Australia in 1987. Another
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great white specimen of similar size has been verified by the Canadian Shark Research Center: A female caught by David McKendrick of Alberton, Prince Edward Island, in August 1988 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Prince Edward Island. This female great white was long. However, there was a report considered reliable by some experts in the past, of a larger great white shark specimen from Cuba in 1945. This specimen was reportedly long and had a body mass estimated at . However, later studies also revealed that this particular specimen was actually around in length, a specimen in the average maximum size range.
The largest great white recognized by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA)
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is one caught by Alf Dean in south Australian waters in 1959, weighing . Several larger great whites caught by anglers have since been verified, but were later disallowed from formal recognition by IGFA monitors for rules violations.
### Examples of large unconfirmed great whites.
A number of very large unconfirmed great white shark specimens have been recorded. For decades, many ichthyological works, as well as the "Guinness Book of World Records", listed two great white sharks as the largest individuals: In the 1870s, a great white captured in southern Australian waters, near Port Fairy, and an shark trapped in a herring weir in New Brunswick, Canada, in the 1930s. However these measurements
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were not obtained in a rigorous, scientifically valid manner, and researchers have questioned the reliability of these measurements for a long time, noting they were much larger than any other accurately reported sighting. Later studies proved these doubts to be well founded. This New Brunswick shark may have been a misidentified basking shark, as the two have similar body shapes. The question of the Port Fairy shark was settled in the 1970s when J. E. Randall examined the shark's jaws and "found that the Port Fairy shark was of the order of in length and suggested that a mistake had been made in the original record, in 1870, of the shark's length". These wrong measurements would make the alleged
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shark more than five times heavier than it really was.
While these measurements have not been confirmed, some great white sharks caught in modern times have been estimated to be more than long, but these claims have received some criticism. However, J. E. Randall believed that great white shark may have exceeded in length. A great white shark was captured near Kangaroo Island in Australia on 1 April 1987. This shark was estimated to be more than long by Peter Resiley, and has been designated as KANGA. Another great white shark was caught in Malta by Alfredo Cutajar on 16 April 1987. This shark was also estimated to be around long by John Abela and has been designated as MALTA. However, Cappo
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drew criticism because he used shark size estimation methods proposed by J. E. Randall to suggest that the KANGA specimen was long. In a similar fashion, I. K. Fergusson also used shark size estimation methods proposed by J. E. Randall to suggest that the MALTA specimen was long. However, photographic evidence suggested that these specimens were larger than the size estimations yielded through Randall's methods. Thus, a team of scientists—H. F. Mollet, G. M. Cailliet, A. P. Klimley, D. A. Ebert, A. D. Testi, and L. J. V. Compagno—reviewed the cases of the KANGA and MALTA specimens in 1996 to resolve the dispute by conducting a comprehensive morphometric analysis of the remains of these sharks
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and re-examination of photographic evidence in an attempt to validate the original size estimations and their findings were consistent with them. The findings indicated that estimations by P. Resiley and J. Abela are reasonable and could not be ruled out. A particularly large female great white nicknamed "Deep Blue", estimated measuring at was filmed off Guadalupe during shooting for the 2014 episode of Shark Week "Jaws Strikes Back". Deep Blue would also later gain significant attention when she was filmed interacting with researcher Mauricio Hoyas Pallida in a viral video that Mauricio posted on Facebook on 11 June 2015. Deep Blue was later seen off Oahu in January, 2019 while scavenging a
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sperm whale carcass, whereupon she was filmed swimming beside divers including dive tourism operator and model Ocean Ramsey in open water. A particularly infamous great white shark, supposedly of record proportions, once patrolled the area that comprises False Bay, South Africa, was said to be well over during the early 1980s. This shark, known locally as the "Submarine", had a legendary reputation that was supposedly well founded. Though rumors have stated this shark was exaggerated in size or non-existent altogether, witness accounts by the then young Craig Anthony Ferreira, a notable shark expert in South Africa, and his father indicate an unusually large animal of considerable size and power
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(though it remains uncertain just how massive the shark was as it escaped capture each time it was hooked). Ferreira describes the four encounters with the giant shark he participated in with great detail in his book "Great White Sharks On Their Best Behavior".
One contender in maximum size among the predatory sharks is the tiger shark ("Galeocerdo cuvier"). While tiger sharks which are typically both a few feet smaller and have a leaner, less heavy body structure than white sharks, have been confirmed to reach at least in the length, an unverified specimen was reported to have measured in length and weighed , more than two times heavier than the largest confirmed specimen at . Some other macropredatory
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sharks such as the Greenland shark ("Somniosus microcephalus") and the Pacific sleeper shark ("S. pacificus") are also reported to rival these sharks in length (but probably weigh a bit less since they are more slender in build than a great white) in exceptional cases. The question of maximum weight is complicated by the unresolved question of whether or not to include the shark's stomach contents when weighing the shark. With a single bite a great white can take in up to of flesh, and can also consume several hundred kilograms of food.
## Adaptations.
Great white sharks, like all other sharks, have an extra sense given by the ampullae of Lorenzini which enables them to detect the electromagnetic
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field emitted by the movement of living animals. Great whites are so sensitive they can detect variations of half a billionth of a volt. At close range, this allows the shark to locate even immobile animals by detecting their heartbeat. Most fish have a less-developed but similar sense using their body's lateral line.
To more successfully hunt fast and agile prey such as sea lions, the great white has adapted to maintain a body temperature warmer than the surrounding water. One of these adaptations is a "rete mirabile" (Latin for "wonderful net"). This close web-like structure of veins and arteries, located along each lateral side of the shark, conserves heat by warming the cooler arterial
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blood with the venous blood that has been warmed by the working muscles. This keeps certain parts of the body (particularly the stomach) at temperatures up to above that of the surrounding water, while the heart and gills remain at sea temperature. When conserving energy the core body temperature can drop to match the surroundings. A great white shark's success in raising its core temperature is an example of gigantothermy. Therefore, the great white shark can be considered an endothermic poikilotherm or mesotherm because its body temperature is not constant but is internally regulated. Great whites also rely on the fat and oils stored within their livers for long-distance migrations across
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nutrient-poor areas of the oceans. Studies by Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium published on 17 July 2013 revealed that in addition to controlling the sharks' buoyancy, the liver of great whites is essential in migration patterns. Sharks that sink faster during drift dives were revealed to use up their internal stores of energy quicker than those which sink in a dive at more leisurely rates.
Toxicity from heavy metals seems to have little negative effects on great white sharks. Blood samples taken from forty-three individuals of varying size, age and sex off the South African coast led by biologists from the University of Miami in 2012 indicates that despite high levels of mercury,
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lead, and arsenic, there was no sign of raised white blood cell count and granulate to lymphocyte ratios, indicating the sharks had healthy immune systems. This discovery suggests a previously unknown physiological defense against heavy metal poisoning. Great whites are known to have a propensity for "self-healing and avoiding age-related ailments".
## Bite force.
A 2007 study from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, used CT scans of a shark's skull and computer models to measure the shark's maximum bite force. The study reveals the forces and behaviors its skull is adapted to handle and resolves competing theories about its feeding behavior. In 2008, a team of scientists
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led by Stephen Wroe conducted an experiment to determine the great white shark's jaw power and findings indicated that a specimen massing could exert a bite force of .
# Ecology and behavior.
This shark's behavior and social structure is not well understood. In South Africa, white sharks have a dominance hierarchy depending on the size, sex and squatter's rights: Females dominate males, larger sharks dominate smaller sharks, and residents dominate newcomers. When hunting, great whites tend to separate and resolve conflicts with rituals and displays. White sharks rarely resort to combat although some individuals have been found with bite marks that match those of other white sharks. This suggests
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that when a great white approaches too closely to another, they react with a warning bite. Another possibility is that white sharks bite to show their dominance.
The great white shark is one of only a few sharks known to regularly lift its head above the sea surface to gaze at other objects such as prey. This is known as spy-hopping. This behavior has also been seen in at least one group of blacktip reef sharks, but this might be learned from interaction with humans (it is theorized that the shark may also be able to smell better this way because smell travels through air faster than through water). White sharks are generally very curious animals, display intelligence and may also turn to socializing
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if the situation demands it. At Seal Island, white sharks have been observed arriving and departing in stable "clans" of two to six individuals on a yearly basis. Whether clan members are related is unknown but they get along peacefully enough. In fact, the social structure of a clan is probably most aptly compared to that of a wolf pack; in that each member has a clearly established rank and each clan has an alpha leader. When members of different clans meet, they establish social rank nonviolently through any of a variety of interactions.
## Diet.
Great white sharks are carnivorous and prey upon fish (e.g. tuna, rays, other sharks), cetaceans (i.e., dolphins, porpoises, whales), pinnipeds
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(e.g. seals, fur seals, and sea lions), sea turtles, sea otters ("Enhydra lutris") and seabirds. Great whites have also been known to eat objects that they are unable to digest. Juvenile white sharks predominantly prey on fish, including other elasmobranchs, as their jaws are not strong enough to withstand the forces required to attack larger prey such as pinnipeds and cetaceans until they reach a length of or more, at which point their jaw cartilage mineralizes enough to withstand the impact of biting into larger prey species. Upon approaching a length of nearly , great white sharks begin to target predominantly marine mammals for food, though individual sharks seem to specialize in different
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types of prey depending on their preferences. They seem to be highly opportunistic. These sharks prefer prey with a high content of energy-rich fat. Shark expert Peter Klimley used a rod-and-reel rig and trolled carcasses of a seal, a pig, and a sheep from his boat in the South Farallons. The sharks attacked all three baits but rejected the sheep carcass.
Off California, sharks immobilize northern elephant seals ("Mirounga angustirostris") with a large bite to the hindquarters (which is the main source of the seal's mobility) and wait for the seal to bleed to death. This technique is especially used on adult male elephant seals, which are typically larger than the shark, ranging between , and
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are potentially dangerous adversaries. Most commonly though, juvenile elephant seals are the most frequently eaten at elephant seal colonies. Prey is normally attacked sub-surface. Harbor seals ("Phoca vitulina") are taken from the surface and dragged down until they stop struggling. They are then eaten near the bottom. California sea lions ("Zalophus californianus") are ambushed from below and struck mid-body before being dragged and eaten.
White sharks also attack dolphins and porpoises from above, behind or below to avoid being detected by their echolocation. Targeted species include dusky dolphins ("Lagenorhynchus obscurus"), Risso's dolphins ("Grampus griseus"), bottlenose dolphins ("Tursiops"
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ssp.), Humpback dolphins ("Sousa" ssp.), harbour porpoises ("Phocoena phocoena"), and Dall's porpoises ("Phocoenoides dalli"). Groups of dolphins have occasionally been observed defending themselves from sharks with mobbing behaviour. White shark predation on other species of small cetacean has also been observed. In August 1989, a juvenile male pygmy sperm whale ("Kogia breviceps") was found stranded in central California with a bite mark on its caudal peduncle from a great white shark. In addition, white sharks attack and prey upon beaked whales. Cases where an adult Stejneger's beaked whale ("Mesoplodon stejnegeri"), with a mean mass of around , and a juvenile Cuvier's beaked whale ("Ziphius
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cavirostris"), an individual estimated at , were hunted and killed by great white sharks have also been observed. When hunting sea turtles, they appear to simply bite through the carapace around a flipper, immobilizing the turtle. The heaviest species of bony fish, the oceanic sunfish ("Mola mola"), has been found in great white shark stomachs.
Off Seal Island, False Bay in South Africa, the sharks ambush brown fur seals ("Arctocephalus pusillus") from below at high speeds, hitting the seal mid-body. They can go so fast that they completely leave the water. The peak burst speed is estimated to be above . They have also been observed chasing prey after a missed attack. Prey is usually attacked
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at the surface. Shark attacks most often occur in the morning, within 2 hours of sunrise, when visibility is poor. Their success rate is 55% in the first 2 hours, falling to 40% in late morning after which hunting stops.
Whale carcasses comprise an important part of the diet of white sharks. However, this has rarely been observed due to whales dying in remote areas. It has been estimated that of whale blubber could feed a white shark for 1.5 months. Detailed observations were made of four whale carcasses in False Bay between 2000 and 2010. Sharks were drawn to the carcass by chemical and odour detection, spread by strong winds. After initially feeding on the whale caudal peduncle and fluke,
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the sharks would investigate the carcass by slowly swimming around it and mouthing several parts before selecting a blubber-rich area. During feeding bouts of 15–20 seconds the sharks removed flesh with lateral headshakes, without the protective ocular rotation they employ when attacking live prey. The sharks were frequently observed regurgitating chunks of blubber and immediately returning to feed, possibly in order to replace low energy yield pieces with high energy yield pieces, using their teeth as mechanoreceptors to distinguish them. After feeding for several hours, the sharks appeared to become lethargic, no longer swimming to the surface; they were observed mouthing the carcass but apparently
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unable to bite hard enough to remove flesh, they would instead bounce off and slowly sink. Up to eight sharks were observed feeding simultaneously, bumping into each other without showing any signs of aggression; on one occasion a shark accidentally bit the head of a neighbouring shark, leaving two teeth embedded, but both continued to feed unperturbed. Smaller individuals hovered around the carcass eating chunks that drifted away. Unusually for the area, large numbers of sharks over five metres long were observed, suggesting that the largest sharks change their behaviour to search for whales as they lose the maneuverability required to hunt seals. The investigating team concluded that the importance
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of whale carcasses, particularly for the largest white sharks, has been underestimated. In another documented incident, white sharks were observed scavenging on a whale carcass alongside tiger sharks.
Stomach contents of great whites also indicates that whale sharks both juvenile and adult may also be included on the animal's menu, though whether this is active hunting or scavenging is not known at present.
## Reproduction.
Great white sharks were previously thought to reach sexual maturity at around 15 years of age, but are now believed to take far longer; male great white sharks reach sexual maturity at age 26, while females take 33 years to reach sexual maturity. Maximum life span was
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originally believed to be more than 30 years, but a study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution placed it at upwards of 70 years. Examinations of vertebral growth ring count gave a maximum male age of 73 years and a maximum female age of 40 years for the specimens studied. The shark's late sexual maturity, low reproductive rate, long gestation period of 11 months and slow growth make it vulnerable to pressures such as overfishing and environmental change.
Little is known about the great white shark's mating habits, and mating behavior has not yet been observed in this species. It is possible that whale carcasses are an important location for sexually mature sharks to meet for mating.
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Birth has never been observed, but pregnant females have been examined. Great white sharks are ovoviviparous, which means eggs develop and hatch in the uterus and continue to develop until birth. The great white has an 11-month gestation period. The shark pup's powerful jaws begin to develop in the first month. The unborn sharks participate in oophagy, in which they feed on ova produced by the mother. Delivery is in spring and summer. The largest number of pups recorded for this species is 14 pups from a single mother measuring that was killed incidentally off Taiwan in 2019. The Northern Pacific population of great whites is suspected to breed off the Sea of Cortez, as evidenced by local fisherman
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who have said to have caught them and evidenced by teeth found at dump sites for discarded parts from their catches.
## Breaching behavior.
A breach is the result of a high speed approach to the surface with the resulting momentum taking the shark partially or completely clear of the water. This is a hunting technique employed by great white sharks whilst hunting seals. This technique is often used on cape fur seals at Seal Island in False Bay, South Africa. Because the behavior is unpredictable, it is very hard to document. It was first photographed by Chris Fallows and Rob Lawrence who developed the technique of towing a slow-moving seal decoy to trick the sharks to breach. Between April
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and September, scientists may observe around 600 breaches. The seals swim on the surface and the great white sharks launch their predatory attack from the deeper water below. They can reach speeds of up to and can at times launch themselves more than into the air. Just under half of observed breach attacks are successful. In 2011, a long shark jumped onto a seven-person research vessel off Seal Island in Mossel Bay. The crew were undertaking a population study using sardines as bait, and the incident was judged not to be an attack on the boat but an accident.
## Natural threats.
Interspecific competition between the great white shark and the orca is probable in regions where dietary preferences
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of both species may overlap. An incident was documented on 4 October 1997, in the Farallon Islands off California in the United States. An estimated female orca immobilized an estimated great white shark. The orca held the shark upside down to induce tonic immobility and kept the shark still for fifteen minutes, causing it to suffocate. The orca then proceeded to eat the dead shark's liver. It is believed that the scent of the slain shark's carcass caused all the great whites in the region to flee, forfeiting an opportunity for a great seasonal feed. Another similar attack apparently occurred there in 2000, but its outcome is not clear. After both attacks, the local population of about 100 great
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whites vanished. Following the 2000 incident, a great white with a satellite tag was found to have immediately submerged to a depth of and swum to Hawaii. In 2015, a pod of orcas was recorded to have killed a great white shark off South Australia. In 2017, along the South African coast, four great whites were found washed ashore with their livers removed with what was described as "surgical precision". Local scientists claim that pods of orcas in the area were responsible for the attacks. Killer whales also impact great white distribution. Studies published in 2019 of killer whale and great white shark distribution and interactions around the Farallon Islands indicate that the cetaceans impact
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the sharks negatively, with brief appearances by killer whales causing the sharks to seek out new feeding areas until the next season.
# Conservation status.
It is unclear how much of a concurrent increase in fishing for great white sharks has caused the decline of great white shark populations from the 1970s to the present. No accurate global population numbers are available, but the great white shark is now considered vulnerable. Sharks taken during the long interval between birth and sexual maturity never reproduce, making population recovery and growth difficult.
The IUCN notes that very little is known about the actual status of the great white shark, but as it appears uncommon compared
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to other widely distributed species, it is considered vulnerable. It is included in Appendix II of CITES, meaning that international trade in the species requires a permit. As of March 2010, it has also been included in Annex I of the CMS Migratory Sharks MoU, which strives for increased international understanding and coordination for the protection of certain migratory sharks. A February 2010 study by Barbara Block of Stanford University estimated the world population of great white sharks to be lower than 3,500 individuals, making the species more vulnerable to extinction than the tiger, whose population is in the same range. According to another study from 2014 by George H. Burgess, Florida
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Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, there are about 2,000 great white sharks near the California coast, which is 10 times higher than the previous estimate of 219 by Barbara Block.
Fishermen target many sharks for their jaws, teeth, and fins, and as game fish in general. The great white shark, however, is rarely an object of commercial fishing, although its flesh is considered valuable. If casually captured (it happens for example in some tonnare in the Mediterranean), it is misleadingly sold as "smooth-hound shark".
## In Australia.
The great white shark was declared Vulnerable by the Australian Government in 1999 because of significant population decline and is currently protected
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under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. The causes of decline prior to protection included mortality from sport fishing harvests as well as being caught in beach protection netting.
The national conservation status of the great white shark is reflected by all Australian states under their respective laws, granting the species full protection throughout Australia regardless of jurisdiction. Many states had prohibited the killing or possession of great white sharks prior to national legislation coming into effect. The great white shark is further listed as Threatened in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, and as rare or likely to become extinct
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under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife Conservation Act in Western Australia.
In 2002, the Australian government created the White Shark Recovery Plan, implementing government-mandated conservation research and monitoring for conservation in addition to federal protection and stronger regulation of shark-related trade and tourism activities. An updated recovery plan was published in 2013 to review progress, research findings, and to implement further conservation actions. A study in 2012 revealed that Australia's White Shark population was separated by Bass Strait into genetically distinct eastern and western populations, indicating a need for the development of regional conservation strategies.
Presently,
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human-caused shark mortality is continuing, primarily from accidental and illegal catching in commercial and recreational fishing as well as from being caught in beach protection netting, and the populations of great white shark in Australia are yet to recover.
The Australasian population of great white sharks is believed to be in excess of 8,000-10,000 individuals according to genetic research studies done by CSIRO, with an adult population estimated to be around 2,210 individuals in both Eastern and Western Australia. The annual survival rate for juveniles in these two separate populations was estimated in the same study to be close to 73 percent, while adult sharks had a 93 percent annual
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survival rate. Whether or not mortality rates in great white sharks have declined, or the population has increased as a result of the protection of this species in Australian waters is as yet unknown due to the slow growth rates of this species.
## In New Zealand.
As of April 2007, great white sharks were fully protected within of New Zealand and additionally from fishing by New Zealand-flagged boats outside this range. The maximum penalty is a $250,000 fine and up to six months in prison. In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the great white shark under the New Zealand Threat Classification System as "Nationally Endangered". The species meets the criteria for
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this classification as there exists a moderate, stable population of between 1000 and 5000 mature individuals. This classification has the qualifiers "Data Poor" and "Threatened Overseas".
## In North America.
In 2013, great white sharks were added to California's Endangered Species Act. From data collected, the population of great whites in the North Pacific was estimated to be fewer than 340 individuals. Research also reveals these sharks are genetically distinct from other members of their species elsewhere in Africa, Australia, and the east coast of North America, having been isolated from other populations.
A 2014 study estimated the population of great white sharks along the California
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coastline to be approximately 2,400.
In 2015 Massachusetts banned catching, cage diving, feeding, towing decoys, or baiting and chumming for its significant and highly predictable migratory great white population without an appropriate research permit. The goal of these restrictions is to both protect the sharks and public health.
# Relationship with humans.
## Shark bite incidents.
While the term "shark attack" is in common use for instances of humans being wounded by sharks, it has been suggested that this is based largely on the misconception that white sharks and other large predatory sharks (such as bull and tiger sharks) seek out humans as prey. A recent review recommends that only
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in the very rare instances where a shark clearly predated on a human should the bite incident be termed an "attack," which implies predation, and that otherwise it is more accurate to class bite incidents as "sighting", "encounter", "bite incident", or "fatal bite incident". Sightings do not include physical interaction, encounters include physical interaction without harm, shark bites include minor and major shark bite incidents, including those that do and do not require medical attention, and fatal shark bite incidents are those that result in death. The study suggests that only in a case where an expert validates the predatory intent of a shark would it be appropriate to term a bite incident
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an attack.
Of all shark species, the great white shark is responsible for by far the largest number of recorded shark bite incidents on humans, with 272 documented unprovoked bite incidents on humans as of 2012.
More than any documented bite incident, Peter Benchley's best-selling novel "Jaws" and the subsequent 1975 film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg provided the great white shark with the image of being a "man eater" in the public mind. While great white sharks have killed humans in at least 74 documented unprovoked bite incidents, they typically do not target them: for example, in the Mediterranean Sea there have been 31 confirmed bite incidents against humans in the last two
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centuries, most of which were non-fatal. Many of the incidents seemed to be "test-bites". Great white sharks also test-bite buoys, flotsam, and other unfamiliar objects, and they might grab a human or a surfboard to identify what it is.
Contrary to popular belief, great white sharks do not mistake humans for seals. Many bite incidents occur in waters with low visibility or other situations which impair the shark's senses. The species appears to not like the taste of humans, or at least finds the taste unfamiliar. Further research shows that they can tell in one bite whether or not the object is worth predating upon. Humans, for the most part, are too bony for their liking. They much prefer
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seals, which are fat and rich in protein.
Humans are not appropriate prey because the shark's digestion is too slow to cope with a human's high ratio of bone to muscle and fat. Accordingly, in most recorded shark bite incidents, great whites broke off contact after the first bite. Fatalities are usually caused by blood loss from the initial bite rather than from critical organ loss or from whole consumption. From 1990 to 2011 there have been a total of 139 unprovoked great white shark bite incidents, 29 of which were fatal.
However, some researchers have hypothesized that the reason the proportion of fatalities is low is not because sharks do not like human flesh, but because humans are often
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able to escape after the first bite. In the 1980s, John McCosker, Chair of Aquatic Biology at the California Academy of Sciences, noted that divers who dove solo and were bitten by great whites were generally at least partially consumed, while divers who followed the buddy system were generally rescued by their companion. McCosker and Timothy C. Tricas, an author and professor at the University of Hawaii, suggest that a standard pattern for great whites is to make an initial devastating attack and then wait for the prey to weaken before consuming the wounded animal. Humans' ability to move out of reach with the help of others, thus foiling the attack, is unusual for a great white's prey.
In
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2014 the state government of Western Australia led by Premier Colin Barnett implemented a policy of killing large sharks. The policy, colloquially referred to as the Western Australian shark cull, was intended to protect users of the marine environment from shark bite incidents, following the deaths of seven people on the Western Australian coastline in the years 2010–2013. Baited drum lines were deployed near popular beaches using hooks designed to catch great white sharks, as well as bull and tiger sharks. Large sharks found hooked but still alive were shot and their bodies discarded at sea. The government claimed they were not culling the sharks, but were using a "targeted, localised, hazard
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mitigation strategy". Barnett described opposition as "ludicrous" and "extreme", and said that nothing could change his mind. This policy was met with widespread condemnation from the scientific community, which showed that species responsible for bite incidents were notoriously hard to identify, that the drum lines failed to capture white sharks, as intended, and that the government also failed to show any correlation between their drum line policy and a decrease in shark bite incidents in the region.
## Attacks on boats.
Great white sharks infrequently bite and sometimes even sink boats. Only five of the 108 authenticated unprovoked shark bite incidents reported from the Pacific Coast during
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the 20th century involved kayakers. In a few cases they have bitten boats up to in length. They have bumped or knocked people overboard, usually biting the boat from the stern. In one case in 1936, a large shark leapt completely into the South African fishing boat "Lucky Jim", knocking a crewman into the sea. Tricas and McCosker's underwater observations suggest that sharks are attracted to boats by the electrical fields they generate, which are picked up by the ampullae of Lorenzini and confuse the shark about whether or not wounded prey might be near-by.
## In captivity.
Prior to August 1981, no great white shark in captivity lived longer than 11 days. In August 1981, a great white survived
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for 16 days at SeaWorld San Diego before being released. The idea of containing a live great white at SeaWorld Orlando was used in the 1983 film "Jaws 3-D".
Monterey Bay Aquarium first attempted to display a great white in 1984, but the shark died after 11 days because it did not eat. In July 2003, Monterey researchers captured a small female and kept it in a large netted pen near Malibu for five days. They had the rare success of getting the shark to feed in captivity before its release. Not until September 2004 was the aquarium able to place a great white on long-term exhibit. A young female, which was caught off the coast of Ventura, was kept in the aquarium's Outer Bay exhibit for 198 days
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before she was released in March 2005. She was tracked for 30 days after release. On the evening of 31 August 2006, the aquarium introduced a juvenile male caught outside Santa Monica Bay. His first meal as a captive was a large salmon steak on 8 September 2006, and as of that date, he was estimated to be in length and to weigh approximately . He was released on 16 January 2007, after 137 days in captivity.
Monterey Bay Aquarium housed a third great white, a juvenile male, for 162 days between 27 August 2007, and 5 February 2008. On arrival, he was long and weighed . He grew to and before release. A juvenile female came to the Outer Bay Exhibit on 27 August 2008. While she did swim well, the
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shark fed only one time during her stay and was tagged and released on 7 September 2008. Another juvenile female was captured near Malibu on 12 August 2009, introduced to the Outer Bay exhibit on 26 August 2009, and was successfully released into the wild on 4 November 2009. The Monterey Bay Aquarium added a long male into their redesigned "Open Sea" exhibit on 31 August 2011. The animal was captured in the waters off Malibu.
One of the largest adult great whites ever exhibited was at Japan's Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in 2016, where a male was exhibited for three days before dying. Probably the most famous captive was a female named Sandy, which in August 1980 became the only great white to
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be housed at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California. She was released because she would not eat and constantly bumped against the walls.
## Shark tourism.
Cage diving is most common at sites where great whites are frequent including the coast of South Africa, the Neptune Islands in South Australia, and Guadalupe Island in Baja California. The popularity of cage diving and swimming with sharks is at the focus of a booming tourist industry. A common practice is to chum the water with pieces of fish to attract the sharks. These practices may make sharks more accustomed to people in their environment and to associate human activity with food; a potentially
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dangerous situation. By drawing bait on a wire towards the cage, tour operators lure the shark to the cage, possibly striking it, exacerbating this problem. Other operators draw the bait away from the cage, causing the shark to swim past the divers.
At present, hang baits are illegal off Isla Guadalupe and reputable dive operators do not use them. Operators in South Africa and Australia continue to use hang baits and pinniped decoys. In South Australia, playing rock music recordings underwater, including the AC/DC album "Back in Black" has also been used experimentally to attract sharks.
Companies object to being blamed for shark bite incidents, pointing out that lightning tends to strike
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humans more often than sharks bite humans. Their position is that further research needs to be done before banning practices such as chumming, which may alter natural behavior. One compromise is to only use chum in areas where whites actively patrol anyway, well away from human leisure areas. Also, responsible dive operators do not feed sharks. Only sharks that are willing to scavenge follow the chum trail and if they find no food at the end then the shark soon swims off and does not associate chum with a meal. It has been suggested that government licensing strategies may help enforce these responsible tourism.
The shark tourist industry has some financial leverage in conserving this animal.
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A single set of great white jaws can fetch up to £20,000. That is a fraction of the tourism value of a live shark; tourism is a more sustainable economic activity than shark fishing. For example, the dive industry in Gansbaai, South Africa consists of six boat operators with each boat guiding 30 people each day. With fees between £50 and £150 per person, a single live shark that visits each boat can create anywhere between £9,000 and £27,000 of revenue daily.
# See also.
- List of sharks
- Outline of sharks
- Threatened sharks
- Western Australian shark cull
## Books.
- "The Devil's Teeth" by Susan Casey.
- "Close to Shore" by Michael Capuzzo about the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916.
-
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n of the tourism value of a live shark; tourism is a more sustainable economic activity than shark fishing. For example, the dive industry in Gansbaai, South Africa consists of six boat operators with each boat guiding 30 people each day. With fees between £50 and £150 per person, a single live shark that visits each boat can create anywhere between £9,000 and £27,000 of revenue daily.
# See also.
- List of sharks
- Outline of sharks
- Threatened sharks
- Western Australian shark cull
## Books.
- "The Devil's Teeth" by Susan Casey.
- "Close to Shore" by Michael Capuzzo about the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916.
- "Twelve Days of Terror" by Richard Fernicola about the same events.
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Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fires.
It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white or brown in colour, and often has a glassy or waxy appearance. A thin layer on the outside of the nodules is usually different in colour, typically white and rough in texture. The nodules can often be found along streams and beaches.
Flint breaks and chips into sharp edged pieces, making it useful for knife
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blades and other cutting tools. The use of flint to make stone tools dates back millions of years, and flint's extreme durability has made it possible to accurately date its use over this time. Flint is one of the primary materials used to define the Stone Age.
During the Stone Age, access to flint was so important for survival that people would travel or trade to obtain flint. Flint Ridge in Ohio was an important source of flint and Native Americans extracted the flint from hundreds of quarries along the ridge. This "Ohio Flint" was traded across the eastern United States and has been found as far west as the Rocky Mountains and south around the Gulf of Mexico.
When struck against steel,
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flint will produce enough sparks to ignite a fire with the correct tinder, or gunpowder used in weapons. Although it has been superseded in these uses by different processes (the percussion cap), or materials, (ferrocerium), "flint" has lent its name as generic term for a fire starter.
# Origin.
The exact mode of formation of flint is not yet clear, but it is thought that it occurs as a result of chemical changes in compressed sedimentary rock formations, during the process of diagenesis. One hypothesis is that a gelatinous material fills cavities in the sediment, such as holes bored by crustaceans or molluscs and that this becomes silicified. This hypothesis certainly explains the complex
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shapes of flint nodules that are found. The source of dissolved silica in the porous media could be the spicules of silicious sponges. Certain types of flint, such as that from the south coast of England, contain trapped fossilised marine flora. Pieces of coral and vegetation have been found preserved like amber inside the flint. Thin slices of the stone often reveal this effect.
Flint sometimes occurs in large flint fields in Jurassic or Cretaceous beds, for example, in Europe. Puzzling giant flint formations known as paramoudra and flint circles are found around Europe but especially in Norfolk, England on the beaches at Beeston Bump and West Runton.
The "Ohio flint" is the official gemstone
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of Ohio state. It is formed from limey debris that was deposited at the bottom of inland Paleozoic seas hundreds of millions of years ago that hardened into limestone and later became infused with silica. The flint from Flint Ridge is found in many hues like red, green, pink, blue, white and gray, with the color variations caused by minute impurities of iron compounds.
Flint can be coloured: sandy brown, medium to dark gray, black, reddish brown or an off-white grey.
# Uses.
## Tools or cutting edges.
Flint was used in the manufacture of tools during the Stone Age as it splits into thin, sharp splinters called flakes or blades (depending on the shape) when struck by another hard object (such
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as a hammerstone made of another material). This process is referred to as knapping. The process of making tools this way is called "flintknapping".
Flint mining is attested since the Palaeolithic, 3,300,000 years ago, but became more common since the Neolithic (Michelsberg culture, Funnelbeaker culture). In Europe, some of the best toolmaking flint has come from Belgium (Obourg, flint mines of Spiennes), the coastal chalks of the English Channel, the Paris Basin, Thy in Jutland (flint mine at Hov), the Sennonian deposits of Rügen, Grimes Graves in England, the Upper Cretaceous chalk formation of Dobruja and the lower Danube (Balkan flint), the Cenomanian chalky marl formation of the Moldavian
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Plateau (Miorcani flint) and the Jurassic deposits of the Kraków area and Krzemionki in Poland, as well as of the Lägern (silex) in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland.
In 1938, a project of the Ohio Historical Society, under the leadership of H. Holmes Ellis began to study the knapping methods and techniques of Native Americans. Like past studies, this work involved experimenting with actual knapping techniques by creation of stone tools through the use of techniques like direct freehand percussion, freehand pressure and pressure using a rest. Other scholars who have conducted similar experiments and studies include William Henry Holmes, Alonzo W. Pond, Francis H. S. Knowles and Don Crabtree.
To
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combat fragmentation, flint/chert may be heat-treated, being slowly brought up to a temperature of for 24 hours, then slowly cooled to room temperature. This makes the material more homogeneous and thus more knappable and produces tools with a cleaner, sharper cutting edge. Heat treating was known to stone age artisans.
## To ignite fire or gunpowder.
When struck against steel, a flint edge produces sparks. The hard flint edge shaves off a particle of the steel that exposes iron, which reacts with oxygen from the atmosphere and can ignite the proper tinder.
Prior to the wide availability of steel, rocks of pyrite (FeS) would be used along with the flint, in a similar (but more time-consuming)
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way. These methods remain popular in woodcraft, bushcraft, and amongst people practising traditional fire-starting skills.
### Flintlocks.
A later, major use of flint and steel was in the flintlock mechanism, used primarily in flintlock firearms, but also used on dedicated fire-starting tools. A piece of flint held in the jaws of a spring-loaded hammer, when released by a trigger, strikes a hinged piece of steel ("frizzen") at an angle, creating a shower of sparks and exposing a charge of priming powder. The sparks ignite the priming powder and that flame, in turn, ignites the main charge, propelling the ball, bullet, or shot through the barrel. While the military use of the flintlock declined
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after the adoption of the percussion cap from the 1840s onward, flintlock rifles and shotguns remain in use amongst recreational shooters.
### Comparison with ferrocerium.
Flint and steel used to strike sparks were superseded by ferrocerium (sometimes referred to as "flint", although not true flint, "mischmetal", "hot spark", "metal match", or "fire steel"). This man-made material, when scraped with any hard, sharp edge, produces sparks that are much hotter than obtained with natural flint and steel, allowing use of a wider range of tinders. Because it can produce sparks when wet and can start fires when used correctly, ferrocerium is commonly included in survival kits. Ferrocerium is used
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in many cigarette lighters, where it is referred to as "a flint".
### Fragmentation.
Flint's utility as a fire starter is due to its property of uneven expansion under heating, causing it to fracture, sometimes violently, during heating. This tendency is enhanced by the impurities found in most samples of flint that may expand to a greater or lesser degree than the surrounding stone, and is similar to the tendency of glass to shatter when exposed to heat, and can become a drawback when flint is used as a building material.
## As a building material.
Flint, knapped or unknapped, has been used from antiquity (for example at the Late Roman fort of Burgh Castle in Norfolk) up to the present
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day as a material for building stone walls, using lime mortar, and often combined with other available stone or brick rubble. It was most common in parts of southern England, where no good building stone was available locally, and brick-making not widespread until the later Middle Ages. It is especially associated with East Anglia, but also used in chalky areas stretching through Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and Kent to Somerset.
Flint was used in the construction of many churches, houses, and other buildings, for example the large stronghold of Framlingham Castle. Many different decorative effects have been achieved by using different types of knapping or arrangement and combinations with stone
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(flushwork), especially in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
## Ceramics.
Flint pebbles are used as the media in ball mills to grind glazes and other raw materials for the ceramics industry. The pebbles are hand-selected based on colour; those having a tint of red, indicating high iron content, are discarded. The remaining blue-grey stones have a low content of chromophoric oxides and so are less deleterious to the colour of the ceramic composition after firing.
Until recently flint was also an important raw material in clay-based ceramic bodies produced in the UK. In preparation for use flint pebbles, frequently sourced from the coasts of South-East England or Western France, were calcined
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to around 1,000 °C. This heat process both removed organic impurities and induced certain physical reactions, including converting some of the silica to cristobalite. After calcination the flint pebbles were milled to a fine particle size. However, the use of flint has now been superseded by quartz. Because of the historical use of flint, the word "flint" is used by some potters, especially in the US, to refer to siliceous materials that are not flint.
## Jewellery.
Flint bracelets were known in Ancient Egypt, and several examples have been found.
# See also.
Mineralogy
- not to be confused with concretion
Archaeology
- , archaeological artefacts of the Clovis culture in New Mexico, USA
-
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Flint
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https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flint
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Flint
.
Mineralogy
- not to be confused with concretion
Archaeology
- , archaeological artefacts of the Clovis culture in New Mexico, USA
- , a prehistoric flint mine in Norfolk, England
- , a Native American flint quarry in Hopewell Township, Licking County, Ohio, US
# External links.
- Flint Architecture of East Anglia Book by Stephen Hart
- Flintsource.net European Artefacts – detailed site
- Flint circles and paramoudra – Beeston Bump
- Paramoudras and flint circles photograph collection
- Winchester Cathedral Close
- Flint and the Conservation of Flint Buildings Introduction to the historical use of flint in construction and the repair and conservation of historic flint buildings
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Cryptocrystalline
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Cryptocrystalline
Cryptocrystalline
Cryptocrystalline is a rock texture made up of such minute crystals that its crystalline nature is only vaguely revealed even microscopically in thin section by transmitted polarized light. Among the sedimentary rocks, chert and flint are cryptocrystalline. Carbonado, a form of diamond, is also cryptocrystalline. Volcanic rocks, especially of the acidic type such as felsites and rhyolites, may have a cryptocrystalline groundmass as distinguished from pure obsidian (acidic) or tachylyte (basic), which are natural rock glasses. Onyx is also a cryptocrystalline. Agates such as the fairburn agate are also composed of cryptocrystalline silica.
# See also.
- List of rock textures
-
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Cryptocrystalline
nature is only vaguely revealed even microscopically in thin section by transmitted polarized light. Among the sedimentary rocks, chert and flint are cryptocrystalline. Carbonado, a form of diamond, is also cryptocrystalline. Volcanic rocks, especially of the acidic type such as felsites and rhyolites, may have a cryptocrystalline groundmass as distinguished from pure obsidian (acidic) or tachylyte (basic), which are natural rock glasses. Onyx is also a cryptocrystalline. Agates such as the fairburn agate are also composed of cryptocrystalline silica.
# See also.
- List of rock textures
- Rock microstructure
- Chalcedony
- Agate
- Microcrystalline
- Nanocrystalline
- Macrocrystalline
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Georg Forster
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https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georg%20Forster
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Georg Forster
Georg Forster
Johann Georg Adam Forster (; November 27, 1754 – January 10, 1794) was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific. His report of that journey, "A Voyage Round the World", contributed significantly to the ethnology of the people of Polynesia and remains a respected work. As a result of the report, Forster was admitted to the Royal Society at the early age of twenty-two and came to be considered one of the founders of modern scientific travel literature.
After returning to continental Europe,
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https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georg%20Forster
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Georg Forster
Forster turned toward academia. He traveled to Paris to seek out a discussion with the American revolutionary Benjamin Franklin in 1777. He taught natural history at the Collegium Carolinum in the Ottoneum, Kassel (1778–84), and later at the Academy of Vilna (Vilnius University) (1784–87). In 1788, he became head librarian at the University of Mainz. Most of his scientific work during this time consisted of essays on botany and ethnology, but he also prefaced and translated many books about travel and exploration, including a German translation of Cook's diaries.
Forster was a central figure of the Enlightenment in Germany, and corresponded with most of its adherents, including his close friend
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Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. His ideas and personality influenced Alexander von Humboldt, one of the great scientists of the 19th century. When the French took control of Mainz in 1792, Forster became one of the founders of the city's Jacobin Club and went on to play a leading role in the Mainz Republic, the earliest republican state in Germany. During July 1793 and while he was in Paris as a delegate of the young Mainz Republic, Prussian and Austrian coalition forces regained control of the city and Forster was declared an outlaw. Unable to return to Germany and separated from his friends and family, he died in Paris of illness in early 1794.
# Early life.
Georg Forster was born in the small
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village of Nassenhuben (Mokry Dwór) near Danzig (Gdańsk), in the region of Royal Prussia, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was the oldest of seven surviving children of Johann Reinhold Forster and Justina Elisabeth (née Nicolai). His father was a naturalist, scientist and Reformed pastor. In 1765, the Russian empress Catherine II commissioned the pastor to travel through Russia on a research journey and investigate the situation of a German colony on the Volga River. Georg, then ten years old, joined him. On the journey, which reached the Kalmyk steppe on the lower Volga, they discovered several new species, and the young Forster learned how to conduct scientific research and practice
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Georg Forster
cartography. He also became fluent in Russian.
The report of the journey, which included sharp criticism of the governor of Saratov, was not well received at court. The Forsters claimed they had not received fair payment for their work and had to move house. They chose to settle in England in 1766. The father took up teaching at the Dissenter's Academy in Warrington and also translation work. At the age of only thirteen, the young Forster published his first book: an English translation of Lomonosov's history of Russia, which was well received in scientific circles.
# Around the world with Captain Cook.
In 1772, Forster's father became a member of the Royal Society. This and the withdrawal
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of Joseph Banks resulted in his invitation by the British admiralty to join James Cook's second expedition to the Pacific (1772–75). Georg Forster joined his father in the expedition again and was appointed as a draughtsman to his father. Johann Reinhold Forster's task was to work on a scientific report of the journey's discoveries that was to be published after their return.
They embarked HMS "Resolution" on July 13, 1772, in Plymouth. The ship's route led first to the South Atlantic, then through the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean to the islands of Polynesia and finally around Cape Horn back to England, returning on July 30, 1775. During the three-year journey, the explorers visited
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New Zealand, the Tonga islands, New Caledonia, Tahiti, the Marquesas Islands and Easter Island. They went further south than anybody before them, almost discovering Antarctica. The journey conclusively disproved the "Terra Australis Incognita" theory, which claimed there was a big, habitable continent in the South.
Supervised by his father, Georg Forster first undertook studies of the zoology and botanics of the southern seas, mostly by drawing animals and plants. However, Georg also pursued his own interests, which led to completely independent explorations in comparative geography and ethnology. He quickly learned the languages of the Polynesian islands. His reports on the people of Polynesia
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are well regarded today, as they describe the inhabitants of the southern islands with empathy, sympathy and largely without Western or Christian bias.
Unlike Louis Antoine de Bougainville, whose reports from a journey to Tahiti a few years earlier had initiated uncritical "noble savage" romanticism, Forster developed a sophisticated picture of the societies of the South Pacific islands. He described various social structures and religions that he encountered on the Society Islands, Easter Island and in Tonga and New Zealand, and ascribed this diversity to the difference in living conditions of these people. At the same time, he also observed that the languages of these fairly widely scattered
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islands were similar. About the inhabitants of the Nomuka islands (in the Ha'apai island group of present-day Tonga), he wrote that their languages, vehicles, weapons, furniture, clothes, tattoos, style of beard, in short all of their being matched perfectly with what he had already seen while studying tribes on Tongatapu. However, he wrote, "we could not observe any subordination among them, though this had strongly characterised the natives of Tonga-Tabboo, who seemed to descend even to servility in their obeisance to the king."
The journey was rich in scientific results. However, the relationship between the Forsters and Cook and his officers was often problematic, due to the elder Forster's
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fractious temperament as well as Cook's refusal to allow more time for botanical and other scientific observation. Cook refused scientists on his third journey after his experiences with the Forsters.
# Founder of modern travel literature.
These conflicts continued after the journey with the problem of who should write the official account of the travels. Lord Sandwich, although willing to pay the promised money, was irritated with Johann Reinhold Forster's opening chapter and tried to have it edited. However, Forster did not want to have his writing corrected "like a theme of a School-boy", and stubbornly refused any compromise. As a result, the official account was written by Cook, and the
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Forsters were deprived of the right to compile the account and did not obtain payment for their work. During the negotiations, the younger Forster decided to release an unofficial account of their travels. In 1777, his book "A Voyage Round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop Resolution, Commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years, 1772, 3, 4, and 5" was published. This report was the first account of Cook's second voyage (it appeared six weeks before the official publication) and was intended for the general public. The English version and his own translation into German (published 1778–80) earned the young author real fame. The poet Christoph Martin Wieland praised the book as the
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most important one of his time, and even today it remains one of the most important journey descriptions ever written. The book also had a significant impact on German literature, culture and science, influencing such scientists as Alexander von Humboldt and it inspired many ethnologists of later times.
Forster wrote well-polished German prose, which was not only scientifically accurate and objective, but also exciting and easy to read. This differed from conventional travel literature of the time, insofar as it presented more than a mere collection of data – it also demonstrated coherent, colourful and reliable ethnographical facts that resulted from detailed and sympathetic observation. He
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often interrupted the description to enrich it with philosophical remarks about his observations. His main focus was always on the people he encountered: their behavior, customs, habits, religions and forms of social organization. In "A Voyage Round the World" he even presented the songs sung by the people of Polynesia, complete with lyrics and notation. The book is one of the most important sources concerning the societies of the Southern Pacific from the times before European influence had become significant.
Both Forsters also published descriptions of their South Pacific travels in the Berlin-based "Magazin von merkwürdigen neuen Reisebeschreibungen" (""Magazine of strange new travel accounts""),
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and Georg published a translation of ""A Voyage to the South Sea, by Lieutenant William Bligh, London 1792"" in 1791–93.
# Forster at universities.
The publication of "A Voyage Round the World" brought Forster scientific recognition all over Europe. The respectable Royal Society made him a member on January 9, 1777, though he was not even 23 years old. He was granted similar titles from academies ranging from Berlin to Madrid. These appointments, however, were unpaid.
In 1778, he went to Germany to take a teaching position as a Natural History professor at the Collegium Carolinum in Kassel, where he met Therese Heyne, the daughter of classicist Christian Gottlob Heyne. She later became one
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of the first independent female writers in Germany. They married in 1785 (which was after he left Kassel) and had three children, but their marriage was not happy. From his time in Kassel on, Forster actively corresponded with important figures of the Enlightenment, including Lessing, Herder, Wieland and Goethe. He also initiated cooperation between the Carolinum in Kassel and the University of Göttingen where his friend Georg Christoph Lichtenberg worked. Together, they founded and published the scientific and literary journal "Göttingisches Magazin der Wissenschaften und Litteratur". Forster's closest friend, Samuel Thomas von Sömmering, arrived in Kassel shortly after Forster, and both were
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soon involved with the Rosicrucians in Kassel.
However, by 1783 Forster saw that his involvement with the Rosicrucians not only led him away from real science, but also deeper into debt (it is said he was not good at money); for these reasons Forster was happy to accept a proposal by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Komisja Edukacji Narodowej (Commission of National Education) and became Chair of Natural History at Vilnius University in 1784. Initially, he was accepted well in Vilnius, but he felt more and more isolated with time. Most of his contacts were still with scientists in Germany; especially notable is his dispute with Immanuel Kant about the definition of race. In 1785, Forster
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traveled to Halle where he submitted his thesis on the plants of the South Pacific for a doctorate in medicine. Back in Vilnius, Forster's ambitions to build a real natural history scientific center could not get appropriate financial support from the authorities in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Moreover, his famous speech on natural history in 1785 went almost unnoticed and was not printed until 1843. These events led to high tensions between him and the local community. Eventually, he broke the contract six years short of its completion as Catherine II of Russia had offered him a place on a journey around the world (the Mulovsky expedition) for a high honorarium and a position as a professor
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in Saint Petersburg. This resulted in a conflict between Forster and the influential Polish scientist Jędrzej Śniadecki. However, the Russian proposal was withdrawn and Forster left Vilnius. He then settled in Mainz, where he became head librarian of the University of Mainz, a position held previously by his friend Johannes von Müller, who made sure Forster would succeed him when Müller moved to the administration of Elector Friedrich Karl Josef von Erthal.
Forster regularly published essays on contemporary explorations and continued to be a very prolific translator; for instance, he wrote about Cook's third journey to the South Pacific, and about the Bounty expedition, as well as translating
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