Great White Shark

Distribution: Cosmopolitan

Size Length: up to 6.4 m

Weigh: up to 3,400 kg

Age of sexual maturity: 10–12 years

Diet: Carnivorous

Social life: Solitary

IUCN red list status: Vulnerable



White sharks are one of the most known cartilaginous fishes in the world. Their powerful body is supported by a cartilaginous skeleton (as opposed to the bone skeleton of most other vertebrates) and the maximum size attained by Great White Sharks remains a matter of debate, and is estimated to be around 6 m, and possibly to 640 cm or more. It’s a cosmopolitan specie that occupies a range throughout most seas and oceans with concentrations in temperate seas.

They are at the top of the marine food chain and feed predominately on fish but also consume turtles, molluscs, crustaceans, marine mammals like seals and sea lions. White Shark is ovoviviparous and females may give birth every two or three years rather than annually. Parturition apparently occurs during the spring to late summer in warm-temperate neritic waters.

Despite the high profile media attention the Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) receives, relatively little is known about its biology. One curious fact about sharks is that they have six senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing and electro-reception.