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Great white/Death/Man-eater/Tommy/Uptail/White death/White pointer shark
Carcharodon carcharias
Variously known as jaws, the man-eater or the white death, this apex predator is the most feared of all sharks.
Life span
It's thought they can live for around 20 years.
Statistics
These formidable sharks can grow up to 6m (20ft), although they average 4m (13ft).
Physical Description
Great white sharks have a white belly and a grey back. The snout is long and pointed, and the powerful teeth are triangular and serrated.
The colouration makes it difficult for prey to spot the shark because it breaks up the shark's outline when seen from a lateral perspective.
When viewed from above, the darker shade blends in with the sea.
Distribution
They are widely distributed but are generally temperate dwellers.
Habitat
One of the most wide-ranging of all sharks, white sharks are found both close inshore and well offshore over the deep oceans. They are distributed from cold boreal and sub-Antarctic seas through to the equator, but most often in the temperate zones.
Diet
Fearsome predators, great whites hunt fish, rays, sea lions, seals, sea-birds, small whales, turtles, porpoises, carrion and other sharks. They tend to attack from below. Great whites can reach speeds of 40km/h (25mph) when in pursuit of prey and can leap clear out of the water.
Great whites are top of the list of man-eaters and are responsible for about 5-10 attacks a year. It is thought that shark attacks may be due to mistaken identity, as the silhouette of a swimmer viewed from below is similar to a seal or sea lion. Other theories are that attacks are caused by territorial aggression and competitive displacement, as almost all shark attacks on humans appear to be non-predatory.
Behaviour
It is only recently that the behaviour of great whites is being studied in detail. They are thought to have a myriad of social behaviours and are thought to establish intricate peer relationships at all size classes.
As well as a good sense of smell, great whites have good vision and a 'sixth sense' that detects electrical signals.
Reproduction
Females are thought to give birth to around nine live offspring.
Conservation status
The majority of yearly mortalities are caused by accidental entrapment in commercial fisheries and entanglement in anti-shark beach nets.
This species is now protected by national legislation in South Africa, Namibia, California, Florida, all of Australia and Malta. It is afforded regional protected status in all eastern US coastal states, in the Mediterranean Sea under the Barcelona Convention (1993) and in Brazil.
An attempt to list this shark under Appendix 1 of CITES failed in 2000.
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