Wildlife
Great white sharks are at the very top of the marine food chain. Feared as man-eaters, they are only responsible for about 5-10 attacks a year, which are rarely fatal. Great whites are ultimate predators. Powerful streamlined bodies and a mouth full of terrifyingly sharp, serrated teeth, combine with super senses that can detect a single drop of blood from over a mile away. Hiding from a great white isn't an option as they can detect and home in on small electrical discharges from hearts and gills. Unlike most other sharks, live young are born that immediately swim away.
Did you know?
The great white shark can smell a seal colony from two miles away.
Scientific name: Carcharodon carcharias
Rank: Species
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Table manners
Great white sharks take it in turns to feed on the whale carcass.
Great white sharks take it in turns to feed on the whale carcass.
Super senses
Great whites home in on the scent of a seal colony from two miles away.
Great whites home in on the scent of a seal colony from two miles away.
Shark hunt
Rich fishing attracts seals and, in turn, much larger predators.
The abundance of fish in the cold waters off the Southern African coast attracts vast numbers of fur seals. These in turn attract larger predators - fearsome great white sharks. The sharks stalk these oceans, powering from the deep like missiles to ambush the fur seals.
Great white predator
Slow motion cameras capture the immense power and agility of a breaching great white.
Extraordinary footage from an ultra-high speed camera captures and illuminates shark behaviour in a wholly new way. As the great white shoots vertically out of the water a Photron camera films at 1,000 frames per second. Slowed down 40 times, this single second of action reveals the immense power and agility of the ocean's master predator. Every nuance of its behaviour becomes evident as the shark toys with its prey. This was the favourite Planet Earth clip when the series was first broadcast.
The Great white shark can be found in a number of locations including: Africa, Australia, Europe, Mediterranean, North America, South America. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
A comparison of the great white shark's size in relation to humans.
The following habitats are found across the Great white shark distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Vulnerable
Population trend: Unknown
Year assessed: 2005
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, also known as the great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, is a species of large lamniform shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. The great white shark is mainly known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached or exceeded 6 m (20 ft) in length, and 2,268 kg (5,000 lb) in weight. This shark reaches its maturity around 15 years of age and can have a life span of over 30 years.
The great white shark is arguably the world's largest known extant macropredatory fish, and is one of the primary predators of marine mammals. It is also known to prey upon a variety of other marine animals, including fish and seabirds. It is the only known surviving species of its genus Carcharodon, and is ranked first in having the most attacks on humans. The IUCN list the great white shark as a vulnerable species, while it is included in Appendix II of CITES.
The bestselling novel Jaws by Peter Benchley and the subsequent blockbuster film by Steven Spielberg depicted the great white shark as a "ferocious man eater". In reality, humans are not the preferred prey of the great white shark.
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Migration
Adapted to swimming
Carnivorous
Hierarchical
Tactile sense
Nomadic
Ovoviviparous
Active at birth
Predator
Social
Visual communication