"SAN JOSE, Calif. -- They've been called everything from killing machines to misunderstood predators who are key to healthy ocean environments. Now great white sharks may be called something else: endangered."
"California's Fish and Game Commission on Wednesday will decide whether to take the first steps to add the ocean's most storied marine predator to the state endangered species list. Meanwhile, the National Marine Fisheries Service is expected to decide this summer whether to include great whites on the federal endangered list.
If the sharks -- which in California waters can grow to 21 feet long and 4,000 pounds -- join other struggling species, like California condors and sea otters, on the lists, it could mean tougher rules on gill net fishing. It might even create a new legal tactic for environmental groups to fight coal-fired power plants, since some white sharks have high levels of mercury, which comes from burning coal, in their tissues."