The Great White Shark
The most dangerous shark alive
Facts about the great white shark
1.Great White, Carcharodon carcharias
2. Great white sharks live in almost all coastal and offshore waters which have water temperature between 12 and 24 °C (54 and 75 °F), with greater concentrations in the United States (Atlantic Northeast and California), South Africa, Japan, Oceania, Chile, and the Mediterranean.
3. The great white shark averages 4.5 m (15 ft.) in length, but some have been recorded as large as 6 m (20 ft.) long! They generally weigh up to 2250 kg (5000 lb.). They are shaped like a torpedo.
4. Young great white sharks eat fish, rays, and other sharks. Adults eat larger prey, including pinnipeds (sea lions and seals), small toothed whales (like belugas), otters, and sea turtles. They also eat carrion (dead animals that they have found floating dead in the water). Great whites do not chew their food.
5. They can reach speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph) and can at times launch themselves more than 10 feet (3.0 m) into the air.
6. Great white sharks can detect one drop of blood in 25 gallons (100 liters) or water and they can sense even a little blood up to 3 miles (5 km) away, according to National Geographic,. They use their acute sense of smell to detect blood using an organ called the olfactory bulb. The Great White is dangerous, having killed or injured more people than any other shark species.
7. Great Whites have killed more humans than any other shark species. This makes them the most dangerous and many scientists believe that they can behave like serial killers in the sense that they pick out certain traits in those they attack. Their have been at least 272 unprovoked attacks by this shark.
8. The great white is not endangered yet but it is believed that it will be soon.
9. Almost nothing is known about the reproduction of great whites. Some evidence points to the near-soporific effect of a large feast (such as a whale carcass) possibly inducing mating. Great white sharks also reach sexual maturity at around 15 years of age. Maximum life span was originally believed to be more than 30 years, but in a study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the true lifespan of the great white shark was revealed to be up to 70 years or more, with examinations of growth ring count in vertebrae including ages of 73 years old in the oldest male and 40 years old in the oldest female in the study, making the species far more vulnerable to pressures such as overfishing and environmental change.