Great white shark | Nature Adventure

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Biology

Great white sharks are a species of mackerel shark, and can be found along the coast in all major oceans. They're around 13 to 20 feet long (4 to 5.8 meters) or smaller, and can live for an estimated 70 years or longer! They can swim around 16 mph (25 km/h) for short periods, and dive as low as 3,900 ft (1,200 meters) in the water. These sharks have a reputation for being big, scary, and dangerous; and while they are some of the largest predators in the ocean, their danger to human divers has been greatly exaggerated over the years.

Great white sharks explore the world with their mouths. Lacking hands of any kind, they tend to bite first to understand what they've come into contact with. They do have an organ that helps them sense elecromagentic fields around living animals, but they're not the best at understanding what it is they're seeing. They're not trying to eat whatever it is they've found, so they don't put much force into it - but with that said, since humans are relatively very soft, even these "exploratory" bites can be dangerous. This behavior of mouthing whatever they find has lead to a very high bite-count on humans, and has earned them a poor reputation. In reality, they appear to dislike the taste of humans and will avoid attacking us once they know what we are.

There's a lot more to great white sharks than just their biting habits, though! Their social structure is complex, to the point where they often meet up and share information about hunting spots. Clans of sharks may range from just 2 to 6 individuals. They are highly curious, able to create complicated hunting strategies, and even regularly lift their heads to look over the water! Clearly, they are far more interesting than their reputation as mindless eating machines. Just like whales and dolphins, sharks are intelligent, amazing animals, and they deserve our respect - not our fear.

Ecological Importance

Great white sharks are amazing predators, helping to keep marine mammal populations in check. They hunt nearly everything from seals to whales, and contribute to the dispersal of vital nutrients (namely whalefalls) by killing these large animals. Ensuring that no one species has the overwhelming majority in numbers helps to contribute to a healthier ecosystem; without great white sharks, the number of seals might rise to unsustainable levels, leading to an entire ecosystem collapse if given enough time!

Unfortunately, many sharks are killed due to fishing by-catch, which is when unwanted animals end up in the fishing lines used by commercial boats. Large numbers of great whites in a concentrated area may pose a risk to human life, and may also be exterminated intentionally. But balancing a normal, healthy amount of great whites in an area against our fears about them can be difficult. Great white sharks are threatened, if not endangered in some areas. Killing them only because we are afraid of them is not the goal of healthy wildlife management!

Did you know?

Sharks continuously regrow their teeth, even though they swallow their food in one bite!

Sharks only use their teeth to grab their prey and kill it. When they eat, they actually swallow their food whole instead of chewing it. So why do they lose and regrow their teeth so often?

Well, when sharks do bite their prey, they use such incredible biting power that their teeth usually get stuck inside of the animal! They may also ram their heads face-first into their prey, or use the serrated edges to rip away chunks of flesh; both of which loosen their teeth and make it easy for them to fall out. Instead of trying to keep the teeth they're born with healthy and attached to their bodies, it's much easier for the shark to simply lose that tooth and regrow a new one. They can regrow teeth within just one day of losing them, so it's not a big problem if they leave a few behind!

If you're very lucky, you might be able to find shark teeth washed up on the beach!

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