You're gonna need a bigger boat - The Biology of the Great White Shark.
Scientific name: Carcharodon carcharias
đź”´ IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable
The ocean—a vast sapphire sheet stretching further than the eye can see. It is where life began, and where life continues to thrive. From its murky depths to the shallow shore, the ocean teems with life: the clicking of dolphins, the cries of whales, the cascading schools of fish, the infinite blue, and the silent predators older than trees that roam beneath.
From Steven Spielberg's 1975 hit classic Jaws to the cinematic masterpiece that is Sharkboy and Lavagirl, the Great white shark has captured the imaginations of people worldwide for decades—but how much do you really know about them?
Clocking in at 4.5 to 5 metres long, great whites are the largest predatory fish in the world. These apex predators are found in coastal waters all over the world, and are a highly migratory species, going as far as to travel between continents.
Their name comes from their white belly, it is a type of camouflage known as countershading which is commonly observed in fish. The way countershading works is that the top (dorsal) part of the fish's body is a darker colour then it's bottom (ventral) surface.
When viewed from above, the fish would blend in with the dark ocean below but when viewed from below—the fish would blend in with the bright, sunlit water.
Their torpedo-like body allows them to burst through the water at speeds around 40-56 km/h. They have 300 teeth, spread across multiple rows. The top two rows are usually used for feeding and the rest acts as a conveyor system, moving forward to replace damaged or lost teeth. They shed and regrow teeth throughout their life.
Great whites possess an impressive sense of smell, hearing and vision. Like other sharks, great whites have electroreceptors known as ampullae of Lorenzini, named after the 17th century Italian scientist who discovered them. It enables them to sense electric fields produced by prey in close range.
It's not all just brawn though, great whites are also incredibly intelligent hunters. They stalk and ambush their prey, using camouflage to blend in with the environment, one paper also suggests they also use the position of sun—positioning it behind themselves causing a glare in the prey's eyes.
Despite what pop culture tries to suggest, great white sharks would rather not eat a human—preferring fatty prey with blubber. Most recorded bites appear exploratory rather than predatory. The shark tends to swim away after a bite, uninterested in eating the human.
There have been various attempts to keep this shark in captivity but they all eventually ended up falling flat. The shark get stressed, stops eating and starts ramming its head into walls as they are highly migratory, continuously swimming open sea creatures.
Great whites are highly researched animals, particularly the North Eastern Pacific population along the coasts of California where large populations of seal are found. But there is still a lot we are yet to learn, for example - we still don't know the details of how they mate, where females give birth and the precise global population.
The great white's numbers are decreasing globally. Their fins, teeth and liver oil are highly sought after leading to them being hunted. They also end up as bycatch in fishing nets. Trophy hunting, poaching and habitat degradation are also additional factors.
The need for conservation for this iconic species is greater than ever, it is important to raise awareness about their declining numbers and preserve them. The great white plays a big role in the ecosystems it inhabits and it's conservation is necessary to maintain our beautiful oceans.
There is still a lot of information I haven't touched upon here, I highly recommend you to have a look at the sources linked below for additional info! if you have additional information, please share it in the comments :D
đź”—Sources and additional reading:
Smithsonian Ocean Portal-Great White Shark
National Geographic-Great White Shark
White Sharks Exploit the sun during Predatory approaches.
IUCN Red list for more information on territory and conservation
Ampullae of Lorenzini - Marine Science Institute(further info on them)
📹Video I recommend watching:
The Insane Biology of: The Great White Shark-Real Science
Photo from gettyimages(unsplash)