"Great White Shark"

The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is the largest living macropredatory shark and fish. It is a mackerel shark and closely related to the mako sharks, the porbeagle and the salmon shark. It is a robustly built species with a grayish upper-side and a white underside. Females average 4.6 to 4.9 m (15 to 16 ft) and typically weigh 1,000–1,900 kg (2,200–4,200 lb) while males average 3.4 to 4.0 m (11 to 13 ft) and weigh 680–1,000 kg (1,500–2,200 lb). They are estimated to reach a length close to 6.1 m (20 ft) and a weight of over 2,494.9 kg (5,500 lb). The shark has approximately 300 triangular, serrated teeth that are continuously replaced. Its massive, fatty liver can reach over a quarter of its body weight and provides buoyancy and stores energy. White sharks are partially warm-blooded, an adaptation that allows them to remain active in colder waters.

Great white shark Temporal range: Early Pliocene - Recent 5.3–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Male off Isla Guadalupe, Mexico
Size comparison with human
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1) (Global)
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1) (Europe and the Mediterranean)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Division:	Selachii
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Lamnidae
Genus:	Carcharodon Smith, 1838
Species:	C. carcharias
Binomial name
Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758)
Range based on Huveneers et al. (2018)   Extant (resident & migratory)   Possibly extirpated
Synonyms
List Squalus carcharias Linnaeus, 1758 Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) Squalus caninus Osbeck, 1765 Carcharias lamia Rafinesque, 1810 Carcharias verus Cloquet, 1817 Squalus vulgaris Richardson, 1836 Carcharias vulgaris (Richardson, 1836) Carcharodon smithii Agassiz, 1838 Carcharodon smithi Bonaparte, 1838 Carcharodon rondeletii Müller & Henle, 1839 Carcharodon capensis Smith, 1839 Carcharias atwoodi Storer, 1848 Carcharias maso Morris, 1898 Carcharodon albimors Whitley, 1939

White sharks inhabit tropical and temperate ocean waters around the world and can be found both along the coast and further out to sea. Populations are most concentrated at the Pacific and Atlantic sides of North America and in the waters of southern Africa and Oceania. They are a highly migratory species, traveling between the coast and open ocean and even between continents. The great white shark preys on marine mammals such as pinnipeds and dolphins, as well as fish, including other sharks, and cephalopods. It is also a prolific scavenger of whale carcasses. Though an apex predator, the species is sometimes preyed on by orcas. White sharks are generally solitary but gather in aggregations, particularly at feeding sites. They may communicate and establish dominance hierarchies with body language. Reproduction in the species is less understood, but it is known to be ovoviviparous; with pups hatching from eggs within the female, which gives live birth after 12 months. Juvenile white sharks typically inhabit shallower water and cannot eat marine mammals until they reach around 3 m (9.8 ft).

The great white shark has had a fearsome reputation among the public. It is featured in the 1974 novel Jaws and its 1975 film adaptation, both of which portray it as a ferocious man-eater. In reality, white sharks normally do not prey on humans and the majority of bites are due to curiosity or possibly mistaken identity. Many attempts have been made to keep the species in captivity, but specimens either ended up dying or being released, and no aquarium currently houses them. White shark aggregations have attracted tourists who may view them from boats or in shark cages.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the white shark as a vulnerable species globally and critically endangered regionally in European and Mediterranean waters. As of 2025, it is estimated to have declined in numbers by 30–49% over the past 159 years. Major threats have included bycatching by commercial fisheries, recreational fishing, and trapping in protective drum-lines and gillnets along beaches. Several governments have enacted protections for the species, including bans on catching and killing.