Take a deep breath, gang, as we dive deep to get the lowdown on one of the ocean’s deadliest predators, in our great white shark facts!

Great white shark facts

Great white shark facts

1) Great white sharks can be found throughout the world’s oceans, mostly in cool waters close to the coast.

2) These super swimmers are the largest predatory fish (fish that eat other fish or animals) on our planet. On average, they grow to around 4.6m long, but some great whites have been measured at 6m – that’s half the length of a bus!

If you love this article, you'll love our Ocean Activity and Colouring Book is written on the post, which shows a book called Ocean Activity and Colouring Book, as well as a blue jellyfish

3) Great white sharks are grey with a white underbelly, from where they get their name. They have a streamlined shape and powerful tails that propel them through the water at over 60km per hour!

4) Any creature unlucky enough to find itself in the gob of a great white is in for a nasty shock! Because this marine beast’s mouth is equipped with a set of 300 sharp, triangular teeth arranged in up to seven rows. Yikes! Let’s take a closer look, if you dare…

5) Whilst many think of these beasts as fearsome man-eaters, humans aren’t, in fact, on the great white’s menu. Phew! There are around 5-10 attacks a year, but researchers believe that, rather than preying on humans to eat them, the sharks are instead taking a “sample bite” out of curiosity, before swimming off.

6) So what do they eat? Well, when they’re young, they feed on small prey, such as fish and rays. But when they’re older and bigger, they generally feast on sea mammals such as sea lionsseals and small whales.

Great white shark facts
7) Great white sharks have such a strong sense of smell that they can detect a colony of seals two miles away. And check this out – if there was only one drop of blood in 100 litres of water, a great white would smell it!


8) These cunning creatures like to take their prey by surprise. They usually position themselves underneath their unsuspecting victims before swimming up and…chomp! They often burst out of the water in a leap (called a breach) before falling back in with their meal in their mouths.

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9) When a great white gives birth, she usually has two to ten youngsters, called “pups“. But she shows no care for her offspring – in fact, she may even try to eat them! Taking care of themselves, the newborn pups will immediately swim off into the ocean.

10) Great white sharks are at the top of the food chain and aren’t likely to be killed by other sea creatures. Sadly, however, they are under serious threat by human activity. Illegal hunting of these beautiful beasts, and overfishing, have meant that today great white sharks are a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List.

Great white shark facts

Love reading about magnificent marine life? Sink your teeth into our super shark quiz, check out our ocean’s weirdest creatures and 10 facts about bottlenose dolphins!

Image ⓒ Picture of great white shark near surface: Photograph by Natursports, Dreamstime. Picture of great white shark underwater: Photograph by Willtu, Dreamstime. Picture of great whie shark with mouth open: Photograph by Peternile, Dreamstime.

What did you make of our great white shark facts? Let us know by leaving us a comment, below!

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COMMENTS

  • lol

    wow

  • wow

  • ikersantiago

    Cool this helps a lot in information reports and interesting

  • ninja

  • chase

    i learnt a lot of things that great white sharks lose over 30.000 teeth in there life cycle its crazy and it is so cool that the white shark got its name from its white belle and its huge

  • interesting

  • elijah

  • redfoxm14

    coooolll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • this helps a lot in information reports

  • Megaladon

    Helllo do more things like thiiis! Bye bye im a shark see look at my name i like flagpoles! Bye

  • Nathan

    Shark are so cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

  • Nathan

    sharks sound super scary

  • Alita

    Thanks!

  • oskar

    sharks are cool

  • jumpfeng

    cool

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  • luis

    nice

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    nice

  • Jasmine

    GO SHARKS

  • Jasmine

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    Cool

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    Good information for my project

  • Bob

    love it!

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    so helpful

  • Sebastian

    Cool info

  • Sebastia

    Cool information

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  • Saaveez

    AMAZING!

  • Esme

    love sharks

  • Esme

    love sharks!!!

  • Amelia

    Cool

  • Thea

  • Thea

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    wow!!!

  • Thea

    wow!!!

  • Emmanuel

    Very awesome I love it because it gives me more information

  • Cool

  • )))))

    These facts were useful

  • James

    Thanks

  • E