THE GREAT WHITE SHARK

The Great White Shark, which is also known by various names such as “The Great White, White Death, and the White Pointer”, is a lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. It reaches lengths of up to 6 metres and can weigh up to

2 240 kilograms. It is the world’s largest known predatory fish, with its scientific name being “Carcharodon carcharias”. The Great White is classified as a Mackerel Shark.  Great white sharks live in almost all coastal and offshore waters which have a water temperature of between 12 °C and 24 °C, but they have also been found in waters with temperatures below 12°C.

The great white shark has a robust, large conical-shaped snout. It has almost the same size upper and lower lobes on the tail fin. The Great White has a white underbelly and a grey dorsal area (the dorsal area is sometimes blue or brown in colour). The colouration makes it difficult for prey to spot the shark because it fragments the shark’s outline when seen from a lateral perspective. When viewed from above, the darker shade blends in with the sea. Behind the main teeth, the Great white, like other sharks, has many rows of teeth that are very jagged and sharp. An average Great White adult measures 4-5 metres and has a mass of 680-1100 kilograms. The females are generally larger than the males and therefore will have a greater mass. The great white shark’s maximum size is about 11.3 metres, with a maximum weight of about 3,5 tons. Recordings reported in the 1930’s indicate that the maximum size of a Great White is 11.3 metres as this figure represents the size of largest Great White seen, but there have been many reports and sightings of sharks with lengths of approximately 7-10 metres in the past years.

Great white sharks, like all other sharks, have an extra sense provided by the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals. Great Whites are so sensitive, that they can detect half a billionth of a volt; they can even detect heart beats. Great Whites are carnivorous and mainly eat other sea creatures such as fish and sea turtles. They typically hunt by using an ambush technique, but their technique changes depending on the type of species they are hunting. They have a 55% success rate of catching their prey. Great Whites’ are easily irritated, but do not target humans as prey; however when they feel threatened, they will attack. Numerous deaths each year have been attributed to shark attacks. There have been many cases of attacks by unprovoked sharks, for unknown reasons. Sharks are known to be one of the most dangerous creatures in the world.