Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)

Also known as white pointer, white shark, or white death it can exceed 6 metres in length and 2,240 kilograms in weight and has a lifespan of between 30 and 100 years. Arguably the world's largest known predatory shark.

Distribution

Greater concentrations of great white sharks occur off the southern coasts of Australia, off South Africa, California, Mexico's Isla Guadalupe and to a degree in the Central Mediterranean, Adriatic Seas and New Zealand.

Size

The average great white is 4–4.8 metres (13–16 ft) and has a mass of 680–1,100 kilograms (1,500–2,400 lb)

Conservation

Endangered species

Facts

The great white shark can be considered an endothermic poikilotherm, because its body temperature is not constant but is internally regulated.

Danger Stats

This shark has been known to attack humans, although rarely, and is believed that they cannot identify the difference between victims and their prey. In the Mediterranean Sea there were 31 confirmed attacks against humans in the last two centuries, only a small number of them deadly.