Sharks
Great white shark
Carcharodon carcharias
An iconic apex predator able to leap clean out of the water to surprise prey, and to cover thousands of kilometres on transoceanic migrations still poorly understood.
🗺️ Geographic range
Present in nearly every temperate and subtropical ocean, with notable populations in South Africa, California and Australia.
📊 Population
Global population estimated at a few thousand mature individuals; listed as vulnerable by the IUCN due to bycatch and the species' low fecundity.
⚠️ Threats
Bycatch
Accidentally caught in nets and longlines intended for other species.
Source: IUCN — Red List of Threatened Species
Targeted fishing for fins and jaws
Sought for the fin trade and as a trophy.
Source: IUCN — Red List of Threatened Species
Low reproductive rate
Late sexual maturity and few pups per litter, which slows any population recovery.
Habitat
- Pacific Ocean · High seas / open water · Epipelagic zone · Permanent
Behaviour
- Diet
- Seals, sea lions, fish and whale carcasses.
- Hunting
- A surprise attack from below, sometimes with a full breach out of the water.
- Reproduction
- Ovoviviparous, with a gestation of about 11 months.
Physiology
- Anatomy
- A streamlined body, up to 300 serrated triangular teeth, continuously replaced.
- Adaptations
- A regional endothermic organ warming muscles and brain, ampullae of Lorenzini detecting prey's electrical fields.
🔗 Web of marine life
Predators
⚡ Its extraordinary abilities
- Can leap entirely out of the water to surprise prey at the surface
- Ultra-fine electroreception via hundreds of ampullae of Lorenzini
🏆 Records
The largest predatory fish
Can exceed 6 metres in length and nearly 2 tonnes.
Source: IUCN — Red List of Threatened Species
If you cross paths with this animal…
Risk: High, but attacks remain rare and often non-fatal (exploratory bites).
Behaviour: Generally not predatory toward humans.
Advice: Avoid swimming near seal colonies at dawn or dusk.
💡 Did you know?
- Can cross an entire ocean during migrations still poorly understood by scientists.
- Continuously replaces its teeth, several thousand over its lifetime.