White Sharks Receive Protection 2/7/13 10a AF

At a meeting of the California Fish and Game Commission in Sacramento yesterday, members voted 4 to 0 to consider a petition to add great white sharks to the endangered species list.      The sharks will have state protection until the final decision goes through in spring of 2014, after research on the numbers of the animals is conducted by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.     Two recent studies have estimated that only 339 adult sharks are present in the coastal areas of Marin County and Mexico, a number far lower than originally expected.    Further research is needed to figure out whether the population is increasing or declining.