When a great white shark attacks seals or sea lions, it seems to strike from below the victim, according to a UC Davis scholar studying shark predatory behavior. His research may eventually help explain why some people survive potentially fatal shark attacks. In a quantitative analysis of 131 videotaped "live" shark attacks, A. Peter Klimley, a marine animal behaviorist at UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, and his colleagues at the Point Reyes Bird Observatory are challenging popular misconceptions about great white sharks. Klimley suggests that a victim's destiny as shark food might be thwarted if it fights back or is unpalatable. Armed with defensively powerful fore flippers, for example, sea lions seem able to escape the first bite alive, even if hurt. Likewise, humans have survived an attack after hitting the shark with diving or abalone-hunting tools. Also, Klimley suggests sharks prefer the energy-rich fat of marine mammal blubber over the leaner fare of birds, sea otters and perhaps humans.