Derek Schultz / ESTERO “Apex” Collab Hat • Premium SnapBack foam front trucker adorned with original art by local talented artist and naturalist, Derek Schultz • This unique run of hats has 20% of the sales profits donated to benefit Shark Stewards, a California organization working to promote conservation of shark species worldwide!⁠

(One size fits most)

A bit about Great Whites by Derek Schultz

archarodon carcharias // White Shark

This piece is a tribute to the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), one of our ocean’s greatest predators.

As we have learned more about ecology, we have begun to understand the importance of predators to the health of ecosystems.  Rather than treating them as dangerous monsters, we can choose to see predators for what they are: keepers of the health and well-being in vast areas of habitat.

Predators enact their healing work on the land (including the underwater land) by maintaining healthy populations of herbivores.  Without apex predators and other similar keystone species, herbivores would overpopulate, devastating the primary producers (plants and marine algae like kelp) which are the foundation of all life within the ecosystem.

We’ve seen a situation like this with the California sea otter, who is the apex predator protecting the giant kelp forests by controlling the population of purple sea urchins.  In the sea otters’ absence when they were hunted nearly to extinction for their fur, California lost most of its giant kelp forests due to urchin overgrazing.  Now that the sea otters are returning, the kelp is making a comeback as well, and bringing rich biodiversity back with it.

Predators are the key to a healthy landscape, and white sharks definitively belong to this category of ecological guardians.  White sharks prey primarily on fish, sea lions, seals, other marine mammals, and smaller sharks.  They help regulate the health of the oceans by keeping these species’ numbers appropriately close to carrying capacity, maintaining the delicate balance so that all may flourish.

By learning more about these non-human relatives of ours, we can begin to understand their importance and treat them with respect and care.

Learn more about white shark conservation here: http://sharkstewards.org/shark-science-education/white-sharks-and-stewardship

See more of Derek’s incredible work at https://www.derekschultzart.com/store and on Instagram at @Derekwschultz