Late last year, while on a tour of California’s Año Neuvo State Park, I saw a shark attack victim lying on the beach. She was a Northern elephant seal, and looked quite placid despite the gaping, crescent-shaped hole in her neck. She bore the traumatic hallmark of the great white shark.

Years of watching Discovery’s Shark Week taught me that seals and sea lions are the preferred prey of Carcharodon carcharias. Nothing like blubber to fuel the body of a constantly-swimming predator with a physiology that runs hotter than that of the average shark. I remember one researcher likened baby elephant seals, in particular, to hot dogs – the bread of the snack corresponds to the fat content of the young pinnipeds,