The great white shark is considered to be an apex predator, or without any predators of their own. It has been known to hunt a variety of different marine life and consume non-biological items (tires, metals, etcs.). While primarily hunting alone, Great Whites have been known to hunt in clans of 2 to 6. Their unique power and pattern of eating undigestible items has earned them a reputation of indiscriminate eating machines; however, its diet consists primarily of marine life.

One hunting technique, which has been observed in a least one other shark species, that great white sharks employ is called spy-hopping. In this technique, the shark will lift its head entirely out of water. Two explanations are offered as reasons for this behavior. One is that this is a learned behavior from humans and the other is that lifting their head above water allows them to smell better as smell travels faster through air then it does water.

Some suggest that despite the fact that great whites are known to have an exceptional sense of smell, spy-hopping is likely a learned behavior from humans. Studies have shown that when presented with two objects of different shape, they are more likely to attack shapes similar to common prey than others. Specifically, all else being equal, a great white is more likely to attack shapes similar to seals than to attack round shapes. Thus, vision is very important to a great white when hunting and is something that has been learned as humans invade the hunting grounds of great whites.

Other viewpoints use the variety of hunting techniques of a great white as evidence that spy-hopping helps sharks track prey via scent. As sub-surface and surface charge attacks, which involve the shark breaching the water's surface, have been observed, it would stand to reason that sharks use spy-hopping to locate prey via their sense of smell.

Even without knowing the true use for spy-hopping, it is clear that the great white is a versatile hunter using a variety of techniques.

1)The primary purpose of this passage is to:
A)Compare hunting techniques of the Great White
B)Compare contrasting views for the explanation of a behavior
C)Inform the reader about a subject
D)Explain one way that the Great White hunts for food
E)Analyze the cause of a certain behavior




2)What best describes the purpose of the third paragraph of the passage?
A)Offers support for the authors viewpoint
B)Describes a contrasting viewpoint the a previously mentioned theory
C)Give support for the prevailing theory
D)Evaluates the validity of a purposed theory
E)Offers reasons why a viewpoint cannot be true