A recent study by the National Marine Fisheries Service has revealed that the great while shark population is doing very well. The census showed that there are over 2,400 white sharks off the coast of California.

The findings were published in this month's online journal PLOS ONE.

The LA Times notes that this research comes at the heels of a recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the great white sharks of the eastern Pacific Ocean population no longer needs to be included in the Endangered Species Act.

"If something is wrong with the largest, most powerful group in the sea, then something is wrong with the sea, so it's a relief to find they're in good shape," wrote the WSOTC.com of George H. Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research.

"That we found these sharks are doing OK, better than OK, is a real positive in light of the fact that other shark populations are not necessarily doing as well," quoted the Times of Burgess. "We hope others can take our results and use them as a positive starting point for additional investigation."

A number of concerns have been raised regarding the possible adverse effects of the changing ocean climates and marine life ecology and its effects on the great white shark population.

This indicates that the shark population is faring much better than experts have expected. With the increase in the number of great whites, presently pegged at over 2,000, indicates that the protective measures and management methods have been working.

The results of the findings run contrary to the recent findings of a 2011 Stanford University research that indicated an alarming low number of predators off the central California coast, notes scientificamerican.com. 

According to Burgess, the Stanford team "made assumptions about the white shark population from those feeding off seals and sea lions at Farallon Islands and Tomales Point. Burgess said they should have taken into account sharks that feed elsewhere and for juvenile sharks whose numbers appear to be growing," writes newsmax.com. 

Speaking on the recent findings, Stanford researcher Barbara Block noted the inconsistencies in the data and told Reuters via email, "We stand firmly behind the findings of our study, and our ongoing research only increases our confidence in its accuracy," Block wrote as recorded by newsmax.com.