Ocean

Great White SharkGreat White Shark
The scientific name of the great white shark, which is often called just the "Great White," is Carcharodon Carcharias. There are over 600 species of sharks and rays with the GWS (Great White Shark) belonging to a group of fast-swimming sharks called mackerel sharks. GWS are usually solitary animals but have been seen in pairs and even occasionally in groups up to 7 or 8.

DIFFERENCE TO OTHER FISH

GWS are fish, but unlike most fish, they do not have bones but rather a "cartilaginous skeleton." Two other differences are their scales, which are not smooth and oily like those of most fish but very rough like sandpaper, and their gills (gill slits) which are not covered like those of most fish but are constantly open.

LOCATION
Location of Great White Sharks The GWS are found in temperate (mild) waters fairly close to the shoreline. They are found in most parts of the world including off North & South America, Africa, Japan, China, Russia, New Zealand, and, of course, Australia.


DESCRIPTION
Parts of a Shark

As you can see in the picture, the GSW has a "torpedo shaped" body with a pointed snout. The belly of the shark is white (hence its name) but the top of the shark is actually gray, making it hard to spot from above. The "average" size is around 3 1/2 to 5 meters long and weighs about 1,200kg with the females being larger than the males.
Shark Teeth


They can have up to 3,000 teeth located in rows. Each tooth is serrated and triangular. As a tooth is broken or lost, it is replaced by a tooth from the next row, so the GWS always keeps a full mouth of teeth.

FEEDING

GWS are predatory (they eat other animals, fish, etc). Their food includes other sharks, fish, sea lions, seals and other marine mammals, turtles, small whales. GWS are also scavengers, eating animals already dead (carrion). Despite having teeth, GWS do not chew their food but swallow whole pieces ripped off their victim with their teeth

HUNTING
Sharks headThe GWS swiftly attacks its prey from below, taking a bite and letting the victim bleed to death. To locate its prey, the GWS uses its excellent sense of smell (especially of blood) and an ability to sense "electrical charges" given off by muscle movements.

SWIMMING

These sharks use their tails to push them through the water and their fins to keep themselves balanced. They must constantly swim or else they will sink, since they have no swim bladders like other fish.

REPRODUCTION
 GWS give birth to live young which are called pups. The pups fully develop inside their mother and once born, they are immediately independent her.

 

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