Great white sharks

A great white shark off Guadalupe Island, a 22-mile-long volcanic land mass 150 miles west of Baja California. The island has become a preeminent shark-diving location, and there is competition between operators to lure passengers onto their boats.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

From the safety of a sturdy aluminum cage, a shark diver watches a great white swim near Guadalupe Island in September 2001. The island has long been a haunt for the sharks.  (Alan Studley / For The Times)

A great white shark eats part of a whale near Anacapa Island off the Ventura County coast in 1999.  (David Lominska / For The Times)

Peck Euwer of Santa Barbara shows the damage a great white shark did to his surfboard off Maverick’s in 2001. The newly glassed board absorbed the bite that could have been fatal to Euwer.  (Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times)