Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Chondrichthyes

Order: Lamniformes

Family: Lamnidae

Genus: Carcharodon

Species: C. carcharias

Conservation Status

(VU) Vulnerable Status

Great white sharks can grow to be up to 20 feet long and weigh as much as 4000 lbs and are shaped like a torpedo. Females are often larger than male sharks. Great white sharks are endothermic, which means they generate body heat through metabolic processes.

These sharks are often grey in color with a whitish underside. Their large fins and crescent shaped tail helps them to propel at fast speeds underwater. They have sharply serrated teeth  which helps them to bite and tear easily.

Great White Shark Habitat

Great white sharks tend to live in temperate coastal waters. These sharks can be found in a wide geographic range, from 60°N latitude to 60°S latitude, they will be found in these waters along the coastline of continents.

These sharks prefer waters with a temperature of 59-72°F and range from surface level to depths of 6000 feet. Most of their habitat has other marine mammals and fish that they prey on.

Great white sharks are carnivores and will eat marine mammals and fish. As juvenile sharks, they tend to eat smaller species like squid, but as they mature, they will eat species of seals, dolphins, and even whale carcasses.

Most sharks will get below their prey and swim up to attack them, and they use their sharp teeth to bite them. Most of their prey will die from blood loss or decapitation.

Great white sharks are ovoviviparous, which means that the baby shark grows in an egg, which is hatched inside the mother. The gestation period lasts about 12-18 months, and the mother can give birth to 2-10 shark pups.

At birth, these pups measure 5 feet and weigh about 80 pounds. Great white sharks are thought to give birth every other year, which allows the mother time to rest after a long birth process.

Great white sharks have a powerful sense of smell which they use to help them detect prey in deep water.

Sharks use electromagnetic fields to feel vibrations in the water to sense out potential prey and this allows them to even detect the heartbeat of prey.