Great white shark#Diet and hunting

The great white is the sole recognized extant species in the genus Carcharodon, and is one of five extant species belonging to the family Lamnidae.{{cite web |title=Carcharodon carcharias, Great white shark |website=FishBase |url=https://www.fishbase.se/summary/751 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109001023/https://www.fishbase.se/summary/751 |url-status=live}} Other members of this family include the mako sharks, porbeagle, and salmon shark. The family belongs to the Lamniformes, the order of mackerel sharks.{{cite web |title=Family Lamnidae – Mackerel sharks or white shark |website=FishBase |url=https://www.fishbase.de/summary/FamilySummary.php?ID=9 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=10 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110010258/https://www.fishbase.de/summary/FamilySummary.php?ID=9 |url-status=live}}

File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17973126708).jpg

The English name 'white shark' and its Australian variant 'white pointer'{{cite web |title=Common names of Carcharodon carcharias |website=FishBase |url=https://www.fishbase.in/ComNames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=751&GenusName=Carcharodon&SpeciesName=carcharias&StockCode=767 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=23 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223123403/https://www.fishbase.in/ComNames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=751&GenusName=Carcharodon&SpeciesName=carcharias&StockCode=767 |url-status=live}} is thought to have come from the shark's stark white underside, a characteristic feature most noticeable in beached sharks lying upside down with their bellies exposed.{{cite web |author1=Martins, C. |author2=Knickle, C. |title=Carcharodon carcharias |website=Florida Museum |year=2018 |url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/carcharodon-carcharias/ |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111221322/https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/carcharodon-carcharias/ |url-status=live}} Colloquial use favours the name 'great white shark', with 'great' perhaps stressing the size and prowess of the species, and "white shark" having historically been used to describe the much smaller oceanic white-tipped shark, later referred to for a time as the "lesser white shark". Most scientists prefer 'white shark', as the name "lesser white shark" is no longer used,{{cite web |author=Martin, R. A. |title=White Shark or Great White Shark? |website=Elasmo Research |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/ws_or_gws.htm |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=22 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422232545/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/ws_or_gws.htm |url-status=live}} while some use 'white shark' to refer to all members of the Lamnidae.

The scientific genus name Carcharodon literally means "jagged tooth", a reference to the large serrations that appear in the shark's teeth. It is a portmanteau of two Ancient Greek words: the prefix carchar- is derived from κάρχαρος (kárkharos), which means "jagged" or "sharp". The suffix -odon is a romanization of ὀδών (odṓn), a which translates to "tooth". The specific name carcharias is a Latinization of καρχαρίας (karkharías), the Ancient Greek word for shark.

The great white shark was one of the species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, in which it was identified as an amphibian and assigned the scientific name Squalus carcharias, Squalus being the genus that he placed all sharks in.{{cite book |author=Linnaeus, C |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. |year=1758 |volume=1 |publisher=Holmiae (Laurentii Salvii) |page=235 |language=la |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10277#page/257/mode/1up |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.542 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=25 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325030419/http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10277#page/257/mode/1up |url-status=live}} By the 1810s, it was recognized that the shark should be placed in a new genus, but it was not until 1838 when Sir Andrew Smith coined the name Carcharodon as the new genus.{{cite journal |author=Jordan, D. S. |title=The Generic Name of the Great White Shark, Squalus carcharias L. |journal=Copeia |volume=140 |issue=1925 |year=1925 |pages=17–20 |doi=10.2307/1435586 |jstor=1435586 | issn = 0045-8511}}

There have been a few attempts to describe and classify the great white before Linnaeus. One of its earliest mentions in literature as a distinct type of animal appears in Pierre Belon's 1553 book De aquatilibus duo, cum eiconibus ad vivam ipsorum effigiem quoad ejus fieri potuit, ad amplissimum cardinalem Castilioneum. In it, he illustrated and described the shark under the name Canis carcharias based on the jagged nature of its teeth and its alleged similarities with dogs.{{efn|During Belon's time, sharks were called "sea dogs".{{cite web |author=Costantino, G. |title=Sharks Were Once Called Sea Dogs, And Other Little-Known Facts |date=18 August 2014 |access-date=18 May 2019 |website=Smithsonain.com |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/sharks-were-once-called-sea-dogs-and-other-little-known-facts-180952320 |archive-date=1 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701213746/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/sharks-were-once-called-sea-dogs-and-other-little-known-facts-180952320/ |url-status=live}}}} Another name used for the great white around this time was Lamia, first coined by Guillaume Rondelet in his 1554 book Libri de Piscibus Marinis, who also identified it as the fish that swallowed the prophet Jonah in biblical texts. Linnaeus recognized both names as previous classifications.

{{cladogram|caption=Phylogenetic relationship between the Great white shark and other sharks based on molecular data conducted by Human et al. (2006){{cite journal |author1=Human, B. A. |author2=Owen, E. P. |author3=Compagno, L. J. V. |author4=Harley, E. H. |title=Testing morphologically based phylogenetic theories within the cartilaginous fishes with molecular data, with special reference to the catshark family (Chondrichthyes; Scyliorhinidae) and the interrelationships within them |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=39 |issue=2006 |year=2006 |pages=384–391 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.09.009 |pmid=16293425|bibcode=2006MolPE..39..384H }}

|cladogram={{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:75%;width:250px;

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|1=Carcharias taurus50 px

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|1=Cetorhinus maximus

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|1=Lamna nasus 50 px

|2=Lamna ditropis

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|2={{clade

|1=Carcharodon carcharias 50 px

|2={{clade

|1=Isurus oxyrinchus50 px

|2=Isurus paucus

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Molecular clock studies published between 1988 and 2002 determined the closest living relative of the great white to be the mako sharks of the genus Isurus, which diverged some time between 60 and 43 million years ago.{{cite book |author=Martin, A. P. |editor1=Klimley, A. P. |editor2=Ainley, D. G. |title=Great White Sharks: The Biology of Carcharodon carcharias |chapter=Systematics of the Lamnidae and the Origination Time of Carcharodon carcharias Inferred from the Comparative Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA Sequences |year=1996 |pages=49–53 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-415031-7 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-415031-7.X5000-9}}{{cite book |author=Kent, B. W. |chapter=The Cartilaginous Fishes (Chimaeras, Sharks, and Rays) of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA |title=The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland |series=Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology |editor=Godfrey, S. J. |pages=45–157 |year=2018 |volume=100 |issue=100 |publisher=The Smithsonian Institution |doi=10.5479/si.1943-6688.100 |s2cid=134274604 |url=https://smithsonian.figshare.com/articles/book/The_Geology_and_Vertebrate_Paleontology_of_Calvert_Cliffs_Maryland_USA/9761762 |issn=1943-6688 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=10 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110051916/https://smithsonian.figshare.com/articles/book/The_Geology_and_Vertebrate_Paleontology_of_Calvert_Cliffs_Maryland_USA/9761762 |url-status=live}} Tracing this evolutionary relationship through fossil evidence, however, remains subject to further paleontological study.

The original hypothesis of the great white shark's origin held that it is a descendant of a lineage of mega-toothed sharks, and is closely related to the prehistoric megalodon.{{cite book |author1=Applegate, S. P. |author2=Espinosa-Arrubarrena, L. |chapter=The Fossil History of Carcharodon and Its Possible Ancestor, Cretolamna: A Study in Tooth Identification |editor1=Klimley, A. P. |editor2=Ainley, D. G. |title=Great White Sharks: The Biology of Carcharodon carcharias |year=1996 |pages=19–36; 49–53 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-415031-7 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-415031-7.X5000-9}} These sharks were considerably larger in size, with megalodon attaining an estimated length of up to {{cvt|14.2|-|20.3|m|ft}}.{{Cite journal |last=Shimada |first=K. |year=2019 |title=The size of the megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), revisited |journal=Historical Biology |volume=33 |issue=7 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2019.1666840 |s2cid=208570844 |issn=0891-2963}}{{cite journal |first1=J. A. |last1=Cooper |first2=C. |last2=Pimiento |first3=H. G. |last3=Ferrón |first4=M. J. |last4=Benton |year=2020 |title=Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=10 |issue=14596 |page=14596 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y |pmid=32883981 |pmc=7471939 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1014596C|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal |last1=Perez |first1=Victor |last2=Leder |first2=Ronny |last3=Badaut |first3=Teddy |date=2021 |title=Body length estimation of Neogene macrophagous lamniform sharks (Carcharodon and Otodus) derived from associated fossil dentitions |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2021/3284-estimating-lamniform-body-size |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.26879/1140 |doi-access=free |access-date=4 March 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307072346/https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2021/3284-estimating-lamniform-body-size |url-status=live}} Similarities between the teeth of great white and mega-toothed sharks, such as large triangular shapes, serrated blades, and the presence of dental bands, led the primary evidence of a close evolutionary relationship. As a result, scientists classified the ancient forms under the genus Carcharodon. Although weaknesses in the hypothesis existed, such as uncertainty over exactly which species evolved into the modern great white and multiple gaps in the fossil record, palaeontologists were able to chart the hypothetical lineage back to a 60-million-year-old shark known as Cretalamna as the common ancestor of all sharks within the Lamnidae.

File:Evolution of the great white shark.jpg

However, it is now understood that the great white shark holds closer ties to the mako sharks and is descended from a separate lineage as a chronospecies unrelated to the mega-toothed sharks. This was proven with the discovery of a transitional species that connected the great white to an unserrated shark known as Carcharodon hastalis.{{cite journal |author1=Ehret, D. A. |author2=MacFadden, B. J. |author3=Jones, D. |author4=DeVries, T. J. |author5=Foster, D. A. |author6=Salas-Gismondi, R. |title=Origin of the White Shark Carcharodon (Lamniformes: Lamnidae), Based on Recalibration of the Late Neogene, Pisco Formation of Peru |journal=Palaeontology |volume=55 |issue=6 |pages=1139–1153 |year=2012 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01201.x |s2cid=128666594 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |author1=Nyberg, K. G. |author2=Ciampaglio, C. N. |author3=Wray, G. A. |title=Tracing the Ancestry of the Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, Using Morphometric Analyses of Fossil Teeth |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=26 |issue=4 |year=2006 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[806:ttaotg]2.0.co;2 |pages=806–814 |s2cid=53640614}} This transitional species, which was named Carcharodon hubbelli in 2012, demonstrated a mosaic of evolutionary transitions between the great white and C. hastalis, namely the gradual appearance of serrations, in a span of between 8 and 5 million years ago.{{cite journal |author1=Boessenecker, R. W. |author2=Ehret, D. J. |author3=Long, D. J. |author4=Churchill, M. |author5=Martin, E. |author6=Boessenecker, S. J. |year=2019 |title=The Early Pliocene extinction of the mega-toothed shark Otodus megalodon: a view from the eastern North Pacific |journal=PeerJ |volume=7 |pages=e6088 |doi=10.7717/peerj.6088 |pmid=30783558 |pmc=6377595 |doi-access=free}} The progression of C. hubbelli characterized shifting diets and niches; by 6.5 million years ago, the serrations were developed enough for C. hubbelli to handle marine mammals. Although both the great white and C. hastalis were known worldwide, C. hubbelli is primarily found in California, Peru, Chile, and surrounding coastal deposits,{{citation |author1=Long, D. J. |author2=Boessenecker, R. W. |author3=Ehret, D. J. |title=Timing of evolution in the Carcharodon lineage: Rapid morphological change creates a major shift in a predator's trophic niche |year=2014 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272745162 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505222759/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272745162_Timing_of_evolution_in_the_Carcharodon_lineage_Rapid_morphological_change_creates_a_major_shift_in_a_predator's_trophic_niche |url-status=live}} indicating that the great white had Pacific origins. C. hastalis continued to thrive alongside the great white until its last appearance around one million years ago{{cite journal |author1=Ebersole, J.A. |author2=Ebersole, S.M. |author3=Cicimurri, D.J. |title=The occurrence of early Pleistocene marine fish remains from the Gulf Coast of Mobile County, Alabama |journal=Palaeodiversity |year=2017 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=97–115 |doi=10.18476/pale.v10.a6 |s2cid=134476316 |doi-access=free}} and is believed to have possibly sired a number of additional species, including Carcharodon subserratus and Carcharodon plicatilis.

However, Yun argued that the tooth fossil remains of C. hastalis and Great White Shark "have been documented from the same deposits, hence the former cannot be a chronospecific ancestor of the latter." He also criticized that the C. hastalis "morphotype has never been tested through phylogenetic analyses," and denoted that as of 2021, the argument that the modern Carcharodon lineage with narrow, serrated teeth evolved from C. hastalis with a broad, unserrated teeth is uncertain.{{cite journal |author=Yun, C. |year=2021 |title=A tooth of the extinct lamnid shark, Cosmopolitodus planus comb. noc. (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the Miocene of Pohang City, South Korea |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=9–16 |doi=10.35463/j.apr.2022.01.02 |s2cid=242113412 |url=https://actapalrom.geo-paleontologica.org/Online_first/Chan_Cosmopolidus_planus.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712005302/https://actapalrom.geo-paleontologica.org/Online_first/Chan_Cosmopolidus_planus.pdf |archive-date=12 July 2021 |url-status=live}}

Tracing beyond C. hastalis, another prevailing hypothesis proposes that the great white and mako lineages shared a common ancestor in a primitive mako-like species.{{cite web |author=Martin, R. A. |title=Fossil History of the White Shark |website=Elasmo Research |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/carcharodon.htm |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=27 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627223434/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/carcharodon.htm |url-status=live}} The identity of this ancestor is still debated, but a potential species includes Isurolamna inflata, which lived between 65 and 55 million years ago. It is hypothesized that the great white and mako lineages split with the rise of two separate descendants, the one representing the great white shark lineage being Macrorhizodus praecursor.{{cite journal |author1=Trif, N. |author2=Ciobanu, R. |author3=Codrea, V. |year=2016 |title=The first record of the giant shark Otodus megalodon (Agassiz, 1835) from Romania |journal=Brukenthal, Acta Musei |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=507–526 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309615167 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=22 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222105957/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309615167 |url-status=live}}

File:Carcharodon carcharias.jpg, Mexico]]

Great white sharks live in almost all coastal and offshore waters which have water temperature between {{cvt|12|and|24|C|0}}, with greater concentrations in the United States (Northeast and California), South Africa, Japan, Oceania, Chile, and the Mediterranean including the Sea of Marmara and Bosphorus.{{cite web |url=http://web.ncf.ca/bz050/wsdistro.html |title=Areal Distribution of the White Shark |publisher=National Capital Freenet |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010200553/http://web.ncf.ca/bz050/wsdistro.html |url-status=dead}}{{cite journal |last1=Kabasakal |first1=H. |year=2014 |title=The status of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in Turkey's waters |url=http://elasmollet.org/PublicationsOthers/Kabasakal2014_WS_Turkey.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616052627/http://elasmollet.org/PublicationsOthers/Kabasakal2014_WS_Turkey.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2015 |url-status=usurped |journal=Marine Biodiversity Records |volume=7 |doi=10.1017/S1755267214000980 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |bibcode=2014MBdR....7E.109K}} One of the densest-known populations is found around Dyer Island, South Africa.{{cite journal |url=https://journals.co.za/content/wild/36/1/EJC117231 |title=Seabird predation by white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, and Cape fur seal, Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus, at Dyer Island |journal=South African Journal of Wildlife Research |date=April 2006 |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=23–32 |access-date=22 May 2017 |last1=Johnson |first1=R. L. |last2=Venter |first2=A. |last3=Bester |first3=M. N. |last4=Oosthuizen |first4=W. H. |archive-date=21 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721080124/http://journals.co.za/content/wild/36/1/EJC117231 |url-status=live}} Juvenile great white sharks inhabit a more narrow band of temperatures, between {{cvt|14|and|24|C|0}}, in shallow coastal nurseries.{{Cite journal |last1=White |first1=Connor F. |last2=Lyons |first2=Kady |last3=Jorgensen |first3=Salvador J. |last4=O'Sullivan |first4=John |last5=Winkler |first5=Chuck |last6=Weng |first6=Kevin C. |last7=Lowe |first7=Christopher G. |date=8 May 2019 |title=Quantifying habitat selection and variability in habitat suitability for juvenile white sharks |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=e0214642 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0214642 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=6505937 |pmid=31067227 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1414642W |doi-access=free}} Increased observation of young sharks in areas they were not previously common, such as Monterey Bay on the Central California coast, suggest climate change may be reducing the range of juvenile great white sharks and shifting it toward the poles.{{Cite journal |last1=Tanaka |first1=Kisei R. |last2=Van Houtan |first2=Kyle S. |last3=Mailander |first3=Eric |last4=Dias |first4=Beatriz S. |last5=Galginaitis |first5=Carol |last6=O’Sullivan |first6=John |last7=Lowe |first7=Christopher G. |last8=Jorgensen |first8=Salvador J. |date=9 February 2021 |title=North Pacific warming shifts the juvenile range of a marine apex predator |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=3373 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-82424-9 |pmid=33564038 |pmc=7873075 |bibcode=2021NatSR..11.3373T |issn=2045-2322}}

The great white is an epipelagic fish, observed mostly in the presence of rich game, such as fur seals (Arctocephalus ssp.), sea lions, cetaceans, other sharks, and large bony fish species. In the open ocean, it has been recorded at depths as great as {{cvt|1200|m|ft}}. These findings challenge the traditional notion that the great white is a coastal species.

According to a recent study, California great whites have migrated to an area between Baja California Peninsula and Hawaii known as the White Shark Café to spend at least 100 days before migrating back to Baja. On the journey out, they swim slowly and dive down to around {{cvt|900|m|ft}}. After they arrive, they change behaviour and do short dives to about {{cvt|300|m|ft}} for up to ten minutes. Another white shark that was tagged off the South African coast swam to the southern coast of Australia and back within the year. A similar study tracked a different great white shark from South Africa swimming to Australia's northwestern coast and back, a journey of {{cvt|20000|km|mi nmi}} in under nine months.{{cite web |url=http://www.whitesharktrust.org/migration/main.html |publisher=White Shark Trust |title=South Africa – Australia – South Africa |access-date=11 September 2008 |archive-date=4 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004222658/http://www.whitesharktrust.org/migration/main.html |url-status=usurped}}

These observations argue against traditional theories that white sharks are coastal territorial predators, and open up the possibility of interaction between shark populations that were previously thought to have been discrete. The reasons for their migration and what they do at their destination is still unknown. Possibilities include seasonal feeding or mating.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-sep-29-sp-outdoors29-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |title=The Great White Way |access-date=1 October 2006 |first=Pete |last=Thomas |date=29 September 2006 |archive-date=18 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618085611/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/sep/29/sports/sp-outdoors29 |url-status=live}}

In the Northwest Atlantic, the white shark populations off the New England coast were nearly eradicated due to over-fishing.{{Cite journal |last1=Curtis |first1=Tobey |last2=McCandless |first2=Camilla |last3=Carlson |first3=John |last4=Skomal |first4=Gregory |last5=Kohler |first5=Nancy |last6=Natanson |first6=Lisa |last7=Burgess |first7=George |last8=Hoey |first8=John |last9=Pratt |first9=Harold |date=June 2014 |title=Seasonal Distribution and Historic Trends in Abundance of White Sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, in the Western North Atlantic Ocean |url=https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/08/qb/curtis-et-al-2014_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003170214/https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/08/qb/curtis-et-al-2014_0.pdf |archive-date=3 October 2017 |url-status=live |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=12 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0099240 |pmid=24918579 |pmc=4053410 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...999240C|doi-access=free}} In recent years, the populations have grown greatly,{{Cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/more-150-great-white-sharks-spotted-cape-cod-massachusetts-june-n1038591 |title=More than 150 great white sharks sightings logged off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, since June |last=Fieldstadt |first=Elisha |date=2 August 2019 |website=NBC News |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805215121/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/more-150-great-white-sharks-spotted-cape-cod-massachusetts-june-n1038591 |url-status=live}} largely due to the increase in seal populations on Cape Cod, Massachusetts since the enactment of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2019/08/02/seal-culling-sharks-cape-cod |title=Seals On Cape Cod Are More Than Just Shark Bait |last=Wasser |first=Miriam |date=2 August 2019 |website=WBUR |language=en |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805181036/https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2019/08/02/seal-culling-sharks-cape-cod |url-status=live}} Currently very little is known about the hunting and movement patterns of great whites off Cape Cod, but ongoing studies hope to offer insight into this growing shark population.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/06/18/experts-plan-new-study-great-white-sharks-off-cape-cod-say-could-help-protect-beach-users/4JNlLmCrXSlJUKh5iQmlhJ/story.html |title=Tracking great white sharks off Cape Cod could help protect beachgoers |last=Annear |first=Steve |date=18 June 2019 |website=The Boston Globe |language=en-US |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805181033/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/06/18/experts-plan-new-study-great-white-sharks-off-cape-cod-say-could-help-protect-beach-users/4JNlLmCrXSlJUKh5iQmlhJ/story.html |url-status=live}} The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (part of the Department of Fish and Game) began a population study in 2014; since 2019, this research has focused on how humans can avoid conflict with sharks.{{Cite web |title=Atlantic White Sharks Research — AWSC |url=https://www.atlanticwhiteshark.org/white-shark-research |access-date=29 August 2021 |website=Atlantic White Shark Conservancy |language=en-US |archive-date=29 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829213106/https://www.atlanticwhiteshark.org/white-shark-research |url-status=live}} Scientists believe all North Atlantic great white sharks spend their first year of life near New York City, off the coast of Long Island.National Geographic. "Baby great white shark reveals huge nursery near NYC in scientific first." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/babies-great-white-sharks-camera-new-york

A 2018 study indicated that white sharks prefer to congregate deep in anticyclonic eddies in the North Atlantic Ocean. The sharks studied tended to favour the warm-water eddies, spending the daytime hours at depths of {{cvt|450|m|ft}} and coming to the surface at night.{{cite news |last=Finucane |first=Martin |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/06/22/new-study-says-great-white-sharks-like-hang-out-ocean-eddies-tracked-shark-off-cape-cod/GH3ZijiGoKGH5wfQYRxCmL/story.html |title=Great white sharks like to hang out in ocean eddies, new study says |work=The Boston Globe |date=23 June 2018 |access-date=23 June 2018 |archive-date=24 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624010521/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/06/22/new-study-says-great-white-sharks-like-hang-out-ocean-eddies-tracked-shark-off-cape-cod/GH3ZijiGoKGH5wfQYRxCmL/story.html |url-status=dead}}

{{multiple image |align=left |direction=vertical |width=

|image1=Carcharodon carcharias upper teeth.jpg |caption1=Upper teeth

|image2=Carcharodon carcharias lower teeth.jpg |caption2=Lower teeth

}}

File:Carcharodon carcharias skeleton.jpg

The great white shark has a robust, large, conical snout. The upper and lower lobes on the tail fin are approximately the same size which is similar to some mackerel sharks. A great white displays countershading, by having a white underside and a grey dorsal area (sometimes in a brown or blue shade) that gives an overall mottled appearance. The coloration makes it difficult for prey to spot the shark because it breaks up the shark's outline when seen from the side. From above, the darker shade blends with the sea and from below it exposes a minimal silhouette against the sunlight.

File:Albino Great white shark pup South Africa 2.jpg in the Eastern Cape, South Africa]]

Leucism is extremely rare in this species, but has been documented at least three times; in a pup that washed ashore in Australia and died,{{Cite web |url=https://www.earthtouchnews.com/oceans/sharks/confirmed-albino-great-white-shark-washes-up-in-australia |title=Confirmed: 'Albino' great white shark washes up in Australia | Sharks | Earth Touch News |website=Earth Touch News Network |date=17 August 2023 |access-date=14 August 2018 |archive-date=15 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815024149/https://www.earthtouchnews.com/oceans/sharks/confirmed-albino-great-white-shark-washes-up-in-australia/ |url-status=live}} in another pup in South Africa,{{Cite web |title=Iconic specimen: A fish of a life time |url=https://saiab.ac.za/saiabnews/iconic-specimen:-a-fish-of-a-life-time.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320190929/https://saiab.ac.za/saiabnews/iconic-specimen:-a-fish-of-a-life-time.htm |archive-date=20 March 2022 |website=South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity}} and a third six-metre adult male in Indonesia.{{Cite journal |last1=Fahmi |last2=Dharmadi |date=1 January 2014 |title=First confirmed record of the white shark Carcharodon carcharias (Lamniformes: Lamnidae) from Indonesia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/marine-biodiversity-records/article/abs/first-confirmed-record-of-the-white-shark-carcharodon-carcharias-lamniformes-lamnidae-from-indonesia/AC95B24797A772FBD692778DDA47E6AD |journal=Marine Biodiversity Records |language=en |volume=7 |pages=e53 |doi=10.1017/S1755267214000414 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |bibcode=2014MBdR....7E..53F |issn=1755-2672 |access-date=9 January 2024 |archive-date=9 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109070941/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/marine-biodiversity-records/article/abs/first-confirmed-record-of-the-white-shark-carcharodon-carcharias-lamniformes-lamnidae-from-indonesia/AC95B24797A772FBD692778DDA47E6AD |url-status=live}} Great white sharks, like many other sharks, have rows of serrated teeth behind the main ones, ready to replace any that break off. When the shark bites, it shakes its head side-to-side, helping the teeth saw off large chunks of flesh.{{cite web |title=Great White Sharks, Carcharodon carcharias |url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=38 |publisher=Marine Bio |access-date=20 August 2012 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505222736/https://www.marinebio.org/wp-content/plugins/akismet/_inc/akismet-frontend.js?ver=1710994783 |url-status=live}} Great white sharks, like other mackerel sharks, have larger eyes than other shark species in proportion to their body size. The iris of the eye is a deep blue instead of black.{{cite web |title=Great White Sharks Have Blue Eyes |url=https://atlanticwhiteshark.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/great-white-sharks-have-blue-eyes |publisher=The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy |access-date=2 July 2018 |archive-date=2 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702233505/https://atlanticwhiteshark.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/great-white-sharks-have-blue-eyes/ |url-status=dead}}

File:WRGW.jpg. Later studies proved this specimen to be in the normal size range, at around {{cvt|4.9|m|ft}} in length.]]

In great white sharks, sexual dimorphism is present, and females are generally larger than males. Male great whites on average measure {{cvt|11|to|13|ft|m|order=flip}} in length, while females measure {{cvt|15|to|16|ft|m|order=flip}}. Adults of this species weigh {{cvt|522|-|771|kg}} on average; however, mature females can have an average mass of {{cvt|680|-|1110|kg}}. The largest females have been verified up to {{cvt|6.1|m|ft}} in length and an estimated {{cvt|1905|kg}} in weight, perhaps up to {{cvt|2268|kg}}.{{cite web |url=http://greatwhite.org/frame_facts.htm |title=Just the Facts Please |publisher=GreatWhite.org |access-date=3 June 2016 |archive-date=14 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114003756/http://greatwhite.org/frame_facts.htm |url-status=live}} The maximum size is subject to debate because some reports are rough estimations or speculations performed under questionable circumstances.Ellis, Richard and John E. McCosker. 1995. Great White Shark. Stanford University Press, {{ISBN|0-8047-2529-2}} Among living cartilaginous fish, only the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) and the giant manta ray (Manta birostris), in that order, are on average larger and heavier. These three species are generally quite docile in disposition and given to passively filter-feeding on very small organisms.{{cite book |author=Wood, Gerald |title=The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats |year=1983 |publisher=Guinness Superlatives |isbn=978-0-85112-235-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofan00wood}} This makes the great white shark the largest extant macropredatory fish. Great white sharks measure approximately {{cvt|1.2|m|ft}} when born, and grow about {{cvt|25|cm}} every year.{{cite web |title=ADW: Carcharodon carcharias: Information |url=http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Carcharodon_carcharias/#reproduction |publisher=Animal Diversity Web |access-date=16 May 2016 |archive-date=10 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710065734/http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Carcharodon_carcharias/#reproduction |url-status=live}}

A complete female great white shark specimen in the Museum of Zoology in Lausanne, and claimed by De Maddalena et al. (2003) as the largest preserved specimen, measured {{cvt|5.83|m|ft}} in total body length with the caudal fin in its depressed position, and is estimated to have weighed {{cvt|2000|kg|lb|-1}}.{{cite journal |author1=De Maddalena, A. |author2=Glaizot, O. |author3=Oliver, G. |year=2003 |title=On the Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758), preserved in the Museum of Zoology in Lausanne |journal=Marine Life |volume=13 |issue=1–2 |pages=53–59 |s2cid=163636286}} According to J. E. Randall, the largest white shark reliably measured was a {{cvt|19.5|ft|m|2|abbr=on|order=flip}} specimen reported from Ledge Point, Western Australia in 1987, but it is unclear whether that length was measured with the caudal fin in its depressed or natural position. Another great white specimen of similar size was a female caught in August 1988 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off Prince Edward Island, by David McKendrick of Alberton, Prince Edward Island. This female great white was {{cvt|6.1|m|ft}} long, as verified by the Canadian Shark Research Center.

A report of a specimen reportedly measuring {{cvt|6.4|m|ft}} in length and with a body mass estimated at {{cvt|3175|-|3324|kg}} caught in 1945 off the coast of Cuba was at the time considered reliable by some experts.{{cite journal |last=Tricas |first=T. C. |author2=McCosker, J. E. |title=Predatory behaviour of the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), with notes on its biology |journal=Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences |volume=43 |issue=14 |pages=221–238 |publisher=California Academy of Sciences |date=12 July 1984 |url=https://archive.org/details/cbarchive_109514_predatorybehaviourofthewhitesh1982 |access-date=22 January 2013}}{{cite book |author=Taylor, Leighton R. |title=Sharks of Hawaii: Their Biology and Cultural Significance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aKwBKmwy7EEC |date=1 January 1993 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-1562-2 |page=65 |access-date=15 October 2016 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703105726/https://books.google.com/books?id=aKwBKmwy7EEC |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last=Wroe |first=S. |author2=Huber, D. R. |author3=Lowry, M. |author4=McHenry, C. |author5=Moreno, K. |author6=Clausen, P. |author7=Ferrara, T. L. |author8=Cunningham, E. |author9=Dean, M. N. |author10=Summers, A. P. |title=Three-dimensional computer analysis of white shark jaw mechanics: how hard can a great white bite? |url=https://faculty.washington.edu/fishguy/Resources/Research_PDFs/2008-great-white-shark-jaw-bite.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110331205144/http://faculty.washington.edu/fishguy/Resources/Research_PDFs/2008-great-white-shark-jaw-bite.pdf |archive-date=31 March 2011 |url-status=live |volume=276 |issue=4 |pages=336–342 |year=2008 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2008.00494.x |journal=Journal of Zoology}}{{cite magazine |title=Great White Shark |url=http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/great-white-shark.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611045541/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/great-white-shark.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2007 |magazine=National Geographic|access-date=24 July 2010}} However, later studies revealed this particular specimen to be around {{cvt|4.9|m|ft}} in length, i.e. a specimen within the typical maximum size range.

The largest great white recognized by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) is one caught by Alf Dean in southern Australian waters in 1959, weighing {{cvt|1208|kg}}.

A number of very large unconfirmed great white shark specimens have been recorded.{{citation |last=Mollet |first=H. F. |year=2008 |url=http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Cc/Cc_list.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531074111/http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Cc/Cc_list.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 May 2012 |title=White Shark Summary Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) |publisher=Home Page of Henry F. Mollet, Research Affiliate, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories}} For decades, many ichthyological works, as well as the Guinness Book of World Records, listed two great white sharks as the largest individuals: In the 1870s, a {{cvt|10.9|m|ft}} great white captured in southern Australian waters, near Port Fairy, and an {{cvt|11.3|m|ft}} shark trapped in a herring weir in New Brunswick, Canada, in the 1930s. However, these measurements were not obtained in a rigorous, scientifically valid manner, and researchers have questioned the reliability of these measurements for a long time, noting they were much larger than any other accurately reported sighting. Later studies proved these doubts to be well-founded. This New Brunswick shark may have been a misidentified basking shark, as the two have similar body shapes. The question of the Port Fairy shark was settled in the 1970s when J. E. Randall examined the shark's jaws and "found that the Port Fairy shark was of the order of {{cvt|5|m|ft}} in length and suggested that a mistake had been made in the original record, in 1870, of the shark's length".{{cite journal |url=http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Cc/Mike_Cappo.html |title=Size and age of the white pointer shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus) |author=Cappo, Michael |journal=SAFISH |year=1988 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=11–13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106083235/http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Cc/Mike_Cappo.html |archive-date=6 January 2007}}

File:Great white shark caught in Seven Star Lake in 1997.jpg, Taiwan, on 14 May 1997: It was reportedly (unconfirmed) almost {{cvt|7|m|ft}} in length with a mass of {{cvt|2500|kg}}.|alt=Photo of large shark on shore surrounded by people]]

While these measurements have not been confirmed, some great white sharks caught in modern times have been estimated to be more than {{cvt|7|m|ft}} long,{{cite book |last1=Klimley |first1=Peter |last2=Ainley |first2=David |title=Great White Sharks: The Biology of Carcharodon carcharias |publisher=Academic Press |year=1996 |pages=91–108 |isbn=978-0-12-415031-7}} but these claims have received some criticism. However, J. E. Randall believed that great white shark may have exceeded {{cvt|6.1|m|ft}} in length. A great white shark was captured near Kangaroo Island in Australia on 1 April 1987. This shark was estimated to be more than {{cvt|6.9|m|ft}} long by Peter Resiley,{{cite journal |url=http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Cc/Ken_Jury.html |title=Huge 'White Pointer' Encounter |journal=SAFISH |year=1987 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=12–13 |author=Jury, Ken |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417184342/http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Cc/Ken_Jury.html |archive-date=17 April 2012}} and has been designated as KANGA. Another great white shark was caught in Malta by Alfredo Cutajar on 16 April 1987. This shark was also estimated to be around {{cvt|7.13|m|ft}} long by John Abela and has been designated as MALTA.{{Cite web |url=https://www.thesharkfiles.com/ep10-a-bathing-accident-transcript |title=Ep. 10. A Bathing Accident – Transcript |website=Shark Files |access-date=9 April 2022 |archive-date=31 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031133515/https://www.thesharkfiles.com/ep10-a-bathing-accident-transcript |url-status=live}} However, Cappo drew criticism because he used shark size estimation methods proposed by J. E. Randall to suggest that the KANGA specimen was {{cvt|5.8|-|6.4|m|ft}} long. In a similar fashion, I. K. Fergusson also used shark size estimation methods proposed by J. E. Randall to suggest that the MALTA specimen was {{cvt|5.3|-|5.7|m|ft}} long. However, photographic evidence suggested that these specimens were larger than the size estimations yielded through Randall's methods. Thus, a team of scientists—H. F. Mollet, G. M. Cailliet, A. P. Klimley, D. A. Ebert, A. D. Testi, and L. J. V. Compagno—reviewed the cases of the KANGA and MALTA specimens in 1996 to resolve the dispute by conducting a comprehensive morphometric analysis of the remains of these sharks and re-examination of photographic evidence in an attempt to validate the original size estimations and their findings were consistent with them. The findings indicated that estimations by P. Resiley and J. Abela are reasonable and could not be ruled out. A particularly large female great white nicknamed "Deep Blue", estimated measuring at {{cvt|20|ft|m|order=flip}} was filmed off Guadalupe during shooting for the 2014 episode of Shark Week "Jaws Strikes Back". Deep Blue would also later gain significant attention when she was filmed interacting with researcher Mauricio Hoyas Pallida in a viral video that Mauricio posted on Facebook on 11 June 2015.{{cite web |url=http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/shark-feed/learn-more-about-deep-blue-one-of-the-biggest-great-white-sharks-ever-filmed/ |title=Learn More About Deep Blue, One of the Biggest Great White Sharks Ever Filmed |work=Discovery |access-date=11 June 2015 |archive-date=12 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612052046/http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/shark-feed/learn-more-about-deep-blue-one-of-the-biggest-great-white-sharks-ever-filmed/ |url-status=live}} Deep Blue was later seen off Oahu in January 2019 while scavenging a sperm whale carcass, whereupon she was filmed swimming beside divers including dive tourism operator and model Ocean Ramsey in open water.{{Cite news |url=https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/01/16/massive-shark-known-deep-blue-was-seen-cruising-hawaii-waters/ |title=Biggest great white shark on record seen in Hawaii waters |first=H. N. N. |last=Staff |newspaper=Hawaii News |access-date=31 October 2019 |archive-date=26 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726151053/https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/01/16/massive-shark-known-deep-blue-was-seen-cruising-hawaii-waters/ |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/shark-shocker-massive-20-foot-great-white-known-as-deep-blue-spotted-near-hawaii |title=Great white shark, called 'Deep Blue,' spotted near Hawaii |first=Chris |last=Ciaccia |date=16 January 2019 |website=Fox News |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116172758/https://www.foxnews.com/science/shark-shocker-massive-20-foot-great-white-known-as-deep-blue-spotted-near-hawaii |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/01/deep-blue-perhaps-the-largest-known-great-white-shark-spotted-off-hawaii |title=Deep Blue, perhaps the largest known great white shark, spotted off Hawaii |date=16 January 2019 |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117013430/https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/01/deep-blue-perhaps-the-largest-known-great-white-shark-spotted-off-hawaii |url-status=live}} A particularly infamous great white shark, supposedly of record proportions, once patrolled the area that comprises False Bay, South Africa, was said to be well over {{cvt|7|m|ft}} during the early 1980s. This shark, known locally as the "Submarine", had a legendary reputation that was supposedly well-founded. Though rumours have stated this shark was exaggerated in size or non-existent altogether, witness accounts by the then young Craig Anthony Ferreira, a notable shark expert in South Africa, and his father indicate an unusually large animal of considerable size and power (though it remains uncertain just how massive the shark was as it escaped capture each time it was hooked). Ferreira describes the four encounters with the giant shark he participated in with great detail in his book Great White Sharks On Their Best Behavior.{{cite book |last=Ferreira |first=Craig |year=2011 |title=Great White Sharks On Their Best Behavior}}

One contender in maximum size among the predatory sharks is the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). While tiger sharks, which are typically both a few feet smaller and have a leaner, less heavy body structure than white sharks, have been confirmed to reach at least {{cvt|5.5|m|ft}} in the length, an unverified specimen was reported to have measured {{cvt|7.4|m|ft}} in length and weighed {{cvt|3110|kg}}, more than two times heavier than the largest confirmed specimen at {{cvt|1524|kg}}.{{FishBase|genus=Galeocerdo|species=cuvier|year=2011|month=July}}{{cite web |url=http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Gc/Gc_large.html |title=Summary of Large Tiger Sharks Galeocerdo cuvier (Peron & LeSueur, 1822) |access-date=3 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410200248/http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Gc/Gc_large.html |archive-date=10 April 2012}} Some other macropredatory sharks such as the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) and the Pacific sleeper shark (S. pacificus) are also reported to rival these sharks in length (but probably weigh a bit less since they are more slender in build than a great white) in exceptional cases.{{cite web |last=Eagle |first=Dane |title=Greenland Shark |url=http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/GreenlandShark/GreenlandShark.html |work=Florida Museum of Natural History|access-date=1 September 2012|archive-date=21 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321092816/http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/greenlandshark/greenlandshark.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |last=Martin |first=R. Aidan |title=Pacific Sleeper Shark |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/ecology/deepsea-pacific_sleeper.htm |work=ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research |publisher=Biology of Sharks and Rays|access-date=1 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420170134/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/ecology/deepsea-pacific_sleeper.htm |archive-date=20 April 2013}}

File:Great white shark 1001.jpg

Great white sharks, like all other sharks, have an extra sense given by the ampullae of Lorenzini which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals. Great whites are so sensitive they can detect variations of half a billionth of a volt. At close range, this allows the shark to locate even immobile animals by detecting their heartbeat.{{cite journal |vauthors=King B, Hu Y, Long JA |title=Electroreception in early vertebrates: survey, evidence and new information. |journal=Palaeontology |date=May 2018 |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=325–58 |doi=10.1111/pala.12346 |url=https://phys.org/news/2018-02-sharks-animals-evolved-electroreception-theirprey.html |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018Palgy..61..325K |access-date=21 March 2022 |archive-date=21 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321073820/https://phys.org/news/2018-02-sharks-animals-evolved-electroreception-theirprey.html |url-status=live}} Most fish have a less-developed but similar sense using their body's lateral line.{{cite web |title=The physiology of the ampullae of Lorenzini in sharks |url=http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/midorcas/animalphysiology/websites/2005/DiLuzio/index.htm |work=Biology Dept., Davidson College |publisher=Biology @ Davidson|access-date=20 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124035534/http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/midorcas/animalphysiology/websites/2005/DiLuzio/index.htm|archive-date=24 November 2010}}

File:White shark1.jpg, South Africa]]

To more successfully hunt fast and agile prey such as sea lions, the great white has adapted to maintain a body temperature warmer than the surrounding water. One of these adaptations is a "rete mirabile" (Latin for "wonderful net"). This close web-like structure of veins and arteries, located along each lateral side of the shark, conserves heat by warming the cooler arterial blood with the venous blood that has been warmed by the working muscles. This keeps certain parts of the body (particularly the stomach) at temperatures up to {{cvt|14|C-change|F-change}}{{cite web |last=Martin |first=R. Aidan |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/p_body_temp.htm |title=Body Temperature of the Great white and Other Lamnoid Sharks |publisher=ReefQuest Centre for Shark research |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=11 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011104829/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/p_body_temp.htm |url-status=live}} above that of the surrounding water, while the heart and gills remain at sea temperature. When conserving energy, the core body temperature can drop to match the surroundings. A great white shark's success in raising its core temperature is an example of gigantothermy. Therefore, the great white shark can be considered an endothermic poikilotherm or mesotherm because its body temperature is not constant but is internally regulated.[http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/Whiteshark/whiteshark.html White Shark Biological Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127134004/http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/whiteshark/whiteshark.html |date=27 January 2013 }} from the Florida Museum of Natural History Great whites also rely on the fat and oils stored within their livers for long-distance migrations across nutrient-poor areas of the oceans.{{cite news |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0718/Great-white-shark-packs-its-lunch-in-its-liver-before-a-big-trip |title=Great white shark packs its lunch in its liver before a big trip |author=Barber, Elizabeth |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date=18 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802083958/http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0718/Great-white-shark-packs-its-lunch-in-its-liver-before-a-big-trip |archive-date=2 August 2013}} Studies by Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium published on 17 July 2013 revealed that in addition to controlling the sharks' buoyancy, the liver of great whites is essential in migration patterns. Sharks that sink faster during drift dives were revealed to use up their internal stores of energy quicker than those which sink in a dive at more leisurely rates.{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130717134923.htm |title=Great White Sharks' Fuel for Oceanic Voyages: Liver Oil |date=17 July 2013 |author=Jordan, Rob |publisher=Stanford University |website=sciencedaily.com |access-date=9 March 2018 |archive-date=9 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809215318/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130717134923.htm |url-status=live}}

Toxicity from heavy metals seems to have little negative effects on great white sharks. Blood samples taken from forty-three individuals of varying size, age and sex off the South African coast led by biologists from the University of Miami in 2012 indicates that despite high levels of mercury, lead, and arsenic, there was no sign of raised white blood cell count and granulate to lymphocyte ratios, indicating the sharks had healthy immune systems. This discovery suggests a previously unknown physiological defence against heavy metal poisoning. Great whites are known to have a propensity for "self-healing and avoiding age-related ailments".{{Cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/great-white-sharks-thrive-even-lead-arsenic-and-mercury-course-through-their-veins-180971871/ |title=Great White Sharks Thrive Despite Heavy Metals Coursing Through Their Veins |last=Solly |first=Meilan |date=3 April 2019 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630223613/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/great-white-sharks-thrive-even-lead-arsenic-and-mercury-course-through-their-veins-180971871/|archive-date=30 June 2019|url-status=live|access-date=30 June 2019}}

A 2007 study from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, used CT scans of a shark's skull and computer models to measure the shark's maximum bite force. The study reveals the forces and behaviours its skull is adapted to handle and resolves competing theories about its feeding behaviour.{{cite news |last=Medina |first=Samantha |title=Measuring the great white's bite |url=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1499|access-date=1 September 2012 |newspaper=Cosmos Magazine |date=27 July 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505052636/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1499|archive-date=5 May 2012}} In 2008, a team of scientists led by Stephen Wroe conducted an experiment to determine the great white shark's jaw power and findings indicated that a specimen massing {{cvt|3324|kg}} could exert a bite force of {{convert|18216|N|lbf|lk=on}}.

File:Great white shark at his back11.jpg|alt=Photo of inverted shark at surface]]

This shark's behaviour and social structure are complex. In South Africa, white sharks have a dominance hierarchy where an individual's rank is primarily established by their size, and to a lesser extent, their sex and "squatter's rights"; larger sharks dominate smaller sharks, females dominate males, and established residents dominate newcomers. When hunting, great whites tend to separate and resolve conflicts with rituals and displays. White sharks rarely resort to combat, although some individuals have been found with bite marks that match those of other white sharks. This suggests that when a great white approaches too closely to another, they react with a warning bite. Another possibility is that white sharks bite to show their dominance.{{cite magazine|last1=Martin|first1=R. Aidan|last2=Martin|first2=Anne|title=Sociable Killers: New studies of the white shark (aka great white) show that its social life and hunting strategies are surprisingly complex.|date=October 2006|magazine=Natural History|url=http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/picks-from-the-past/201391/sociable-killers|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515061210/http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/picks-from-the-past/201391/sociable-killers|archive-date=15 May 2013}} Data acquired from animal-borne telemetry receivers and published in 2022 via the journal Royal Society Publishing suggests that individual great whites may associate so that they can inadvertently share information on the whereabouts of prey or the location of the remains of animals that can be scavenged. As biologging can help to reveal social habits, it allows a better understanding to be made in future studies regarding the full extent of social interactions in large marine animals, including the great white shark.{{Cite journal |last1=Papastamatiou |first1=Yannis P. |last2=Mourier |first2=Johann |last3=TinHan |first3=Thomas |last4=Luongo |first4=Sarah |last5=Hosoki |first5=Seiko |last6=Santana-Morales |first6=Omar |last7=Hoyos-Padilla |first7=Mauricio |date=23 March 2022 |title=Social dynamics and individual hunting tactics of white sharks revealed by biologging |journal=Biology Letters |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=20210599 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2021.0599 |pmc=8941395 |pmid=35317626}}

The great white shark is one of only a few sharks known to regularly lift its head above the sea surface to gaze at other objects such as prey. This is known as spy-hopping. This behaviour has also been seen in at least one group of blacktip reef sharks, but this might be learned from interaction with humans (it is theorized that the shark may also be able to smell better this way because smell travels through air faster than through water). White sharks are generally very curious animals, display intelligence and may also turn to socializing if the situation demands it. At Seal Island, white sharks have been observed arriving and departing in stable "clans" of two to six individuals on a yearly basis. Whether clan members are related is unknown, but they get along peacefully enough. In fact, the social structure of a clan is probably most aptly compared to that of a wolf pack, in that each member has a clearly established rank and each clan has an alpha leader. When members of different clans meet, they establish social rank nonviolently through any of a variety of interactions. In 2022, research in South Africa suggested that the great white shark has the ability to change colours to camouflage itself depending on the hormones it gives off. Different hormones would change the colour of the skin from white to grey. Skin dosed with adrenaline would turn lighter, with melanocyte-stimulating hormone causing melanocyte cells to dissipate thus making the shark's skin a darker colour, although hormone mediated color change is not fully validated due to the limited number of test subjects (i.e. great whites).{{Cite web |first=Jason |last=Bittel |date=8 July 2022 |title=Great white sharks may change their colour to sneak up on prey |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/animals/2022/07/great-white-sharks-may-change-their-colour-to-sneak-up-on-prey |access-date=15 July 2022 |website=National Geographic |language=en-gb |archive-date=15 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715182220/https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/animals/2022/07/great-white-sharks-may-change-their-colour-to-sneak-up-on-prey |url-status=live}} The camo shark hypothesis is supported by the fact that zebra sharks can change their colour as they age, and rainbow sharks can lose colour due to stress and ageing.{{Cite web |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |date=11 July 2022 |title=Camo Sharks documents hunt for evidence that great white sharks change color |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/07/can-great-white-sharks-change-color-camo-sharks-hunts-for-the-answer/ |access-date=15 July 2022 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us |archive-date=15 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715182218/https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/07/can-great-white-sharks-change-color-camo-sharks-hunts-for-the-answer/ |url-status=live}}

File:A beachcomber is looking at the marks of great white sharks bites.jpg carcass]]

Great white sharks are generalist carnivores,{{Cite journal |last1=Collareta |first1=Alberto |last2=Casati |first2=Simone |last3=Di Cencio |first3=Andrea |last4=Bianucci |first4=Giovanni |date=20 October 2023 |title=The Deep Past of the White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in the Mediterranean Sea: A Synthesis of Its Palaeobiology and Palaeoecology |journal=Life |language=en |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=2085 |doi=10.3390/life13102085 |doi-access=free |issn=2075-1729 |pmc=10608139 |pmid=37895466 |bibcode=2023Life...13.2085C }} preying upon fish (e.g. tuna, rays, other sharks), cetaceans (i.e., dolphins, porpoises, whales), pinnipeds (e.g. seals, fur seals, and sea lions), squid, sea turtles, sea otters (Enhydra lutris) and seabirds.{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=R. L. |author2=Venter, A. |author3=Bester, M.N. |author4=Oosthuizen, W.H. |title=Seabird predation by white shark Carcharodon carcharias and Cape fur seal Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus at Dyer Island |journal=South African Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=23–32 |location=South Africa |year=2006 |url=http://www.oceans-research.com/media/publications/SeabirdPublishedManuscript.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403003541/http://www.oceans-research.com/media/publications/SeabirdPublishedManuscript.pdf|archive-date=3 April 2012}}{{Cite web |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Carcharodon_carcharias/ |title=Carcharodon carcharias (Great white shark) |website=Animal Diversity Web |access-date=15 August 2019 |archive-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809141531/http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Carcharodon_carcharias/ |url-status=live}} Great whites have also been known to eat objects that they are unable to digest. Juvenile white sharks predominantly prey on fish, including other elasmobranchs, as their jaws are not strong enough to withstand the forces required to attack larger prey such as pinnipeds and cetaceans until they reach a length of {{cvt|3|m|ft}} or more, at which point their jaw cartilage mineralizes enough to withstand the impact of biting into larger prey species.{{Cite web |title=Teenage great white sharks are awkward biters |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101202124556.htm |access-date=6 February 2023 |date=2 December 2010 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621083517/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101202124556.htm |url-status=live}} Upon approaching a length of nearly {{cvt|4|m|ft}}, great white sharks begin to target predominantly marine mammals for food, though individual sharks seem to specialize in different types of prey depending on their preferences.{{Cite web |title=White shark diets show surprising variability, vary with age and among individuals |date=29 December 2012 |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120929140238.htm |access-date=6 February 2023 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621083518/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120929140238.htm |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last=Estrada |first=J. A. |author2=Rice, Aaron N. |author3=Natanson, Lisa J. |author4=Skomal, Gregory B. |title=Use of isotopic analysis of vertebrae in reconstructing ontogenetic feeding ecology in white sharks |journal=Ecology |volume=87 |issue=4 |pages=829–834 |year=2006 |doi=10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[829:UOIAOV]2.0.CO;2 |pmid=16676526}} They seem to be highly opportunistic.{{cite journal |last1=Fergusson |first1=I. K. |last2=Compagno |first2=L. J. |last3=Marks |first3=M. A. |year=2000 |title=Predation by white sharks Carcharodon carcharias (Chondrichthyes: Lamnidae) upon chelonians, with new records from the Mediterranean Sea and a first record of the ocean sunfish Mola mola (Osteichthyes: Molidae) as stomach contents |doi=10.1023/a:1007639324360 |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=447–453 |bibcode=2000EnvBF..58..447F |s2cid=31232421}}Hussey, N. E., McCann, H. M., Cliff, G., Dudley, S. F., Wintner, S. P., & Fisk, A. T. (2012). Size-based analysis of diet and trophic position of the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in South African waters. Global Perspectives on the Biology and Life History of the White Shark. (Ed. ML Domeier.) pp. 27–49. These sharks prefer prey with a high content of energy-rich fat. Shark expert Peter Klimley used a rod-and-reel rig and trolled carcasses of a seal, a pig, and a sheep from his boat in the South Farallons. The sharks attacked all three baits but rejected the sheep carcass.{{cite web |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/b_catch.htm |title=Catch as Catch Can |publisher=ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=25 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025172903/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/b_catch.htm |url-status=live}}

Off Seal Island, False Bay in South Africa, the sharks ambush brown fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) from below at high speeds, hitting the seal mid-body. They achieve high speeds that allow them to completely breach the surface of the water. The peak burst speed is estimated to be above {{cvt|40|km/h|mph}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/p_shark_speed.htm |title=How Fast Can a Shark Swim? |publisher=ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research |access-date=21 February 2009 |archive-date=21 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021025349/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/p_shark_speed.htm |url-status=live}} They have also been observed chasing prey after a missed attack. Prey is usually attacked at the surface.{{cite web |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/predation.htm |title=White Shark Predatory Behavior at Seal Island |publisher=ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research |access-date=11 September 2008 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704225829/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/predation.htm |url-status=live}} Shark attacks occur most often in the morning, within two hours of sunrise, when visibility is poor. Their success rate is 55% in the first two hours, falling to 40% in late morning after which hunting stops.

Off California, sharks use different predation techniques depending on the prey species.{{Cite book |last=Casey |first=Susan |title=The devil's teeth: a true story of obsession and survival among America's great white sharks |date=2005 |publisher=H. Holt |isbn=978-0-8050-7581-6 |edition=1st |location=New York}} They immobilize northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) with a large bite to the hindquarters (which is the main source of the seal's mobility) and wait for the seal to bleed to death. This technique is especially used on adult male elephant seals, which are typically larger than the shark, ranging between {{cvt|1500|and|2000|kg}}, and are potentially dangerous adversaries.{{cite journal |last1=Le Boeuf |first1=B. J. |last2=Crocker |first2=D. E. |last3=Costa |first3=D. P. |last4=Blackwell |first4=S. B. |last5=Webb |first5=P. M. |last6=Houser |first6=D. S. |year=2000 |title=Foraging ecology of northern elephant seals |journal=Ecological Monographs |volume=70 |issue=3 |pages=353–382 |doi=10.2307/2657207 |jstor=2657207 |bibcode=2000EcoM...70..353B}}{{cite journal |last1=Haley |first1=M. P. |last2=Deutsch |first2=C. J. |last3=Le Boeuf |first3=B. J. |year=1994 |title=Size, dominance and copulatory success in male northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=48 |issue=6 |pages=1249–1260 |doi=10.1006/anbe.1994.1361 |s2cid=54388167}} However, juvenile elephant seals are the most frequently eaten at elephant seal colonies.{{cite journal |last1=Weng |first1=K. C. |last2=Boustany |first2=A. M. |last3=Pyle |first3=P. |last4=Anderson |first4=S. D. |last5=Brown |first5=A. |last6=Block |first6=B. A. |year=2007 |title=Migration and habitat of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the eastern Pacific Ocean |journal=Marine Biology |volume=152 |issue=4 |pages=877–894 |doi=10.1007/s00227-007-0739-4 |bibcode=2007MarBi.152..877W |s2cid=39985022}} Prey is normally attacked sub-surface. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are taken from the surface and dragged down until they stop struggling. They are then eaten near the bottom. California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are ambushed from below and struck mid-body before being dragged and eaten.{{cite web |last=Martin |first=Rick |url=http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/predation.htm |title=Predatory Behavior of Pacific Coast White Sharks |publisher=Shark Research Committee|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730155219/http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/predation.htm |archive-date=30 July 2012}}

File:Great white shark Dyer Island.jpg, showing upper and lower teeth]]

In the Northwest Atlantic mature great whites are known to feed on both harbor and grey seals. Unlike adults, juvenile white sharks in the area feed on smaller fish species until they are large enough to prey on marine mammals such as seals.{{Cite web |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Carcharodon_carcharias/ |title=Carcharodon carcharias (Great white shark) |last1=Chewning |first1=Dana |last2=Hall |first2=Matt |website=Animal Diversity Web |language=en |access-date=15 August 2019 |archive-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809141531/http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Carcharodon_carcharias/ |url-status=live}}

White sharks also attack dolphins and porpoises from above, behind or below to avoid being detected by their echolocation. Targeted species include dusky dolphins (Sagmatias obscurus), Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops ssp.),{{cite journal |last=Heithaus |first=Michael |title=Predator–prey and competitive interactions between sharks (order Selachii) and dolphins (suborder Odontoceti): a review |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=253 |pages=53–68 |year=2001 |url=http://www.science.fau.edu/sharklab/courses/elasmobiology/readings/heithaus.pdf |doi=10.1017/S0952836901000061 |access-date=26 February 2010 |citeseerx=10.1.1.404.130 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115113304/http://www.science.fau.edu/sharklab/courses/elasmobiology/readings/heithaus.pdf |archive-date=15 January 2016 |url-status=dead}} humpback dolphins (Sousa ssp.), harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), and Dall's porpoises (Phocoenoides dalli). Groups of dolphins have occasionally been observed defending themselves from sharks with mobbing behaviour. White shark predation on other species of small cetacean has also been observed. In August 1989, a {{cvt|1.8|m|ft}} juvenile male pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) was found stranded in central California with a bite mark on its caudal peduncle from a great white shark.{{cite journal |last=Long |first=Douglas |title=Apparent Predation by a White Shark Carcharodon carcharias on a Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps |journal=Fishery Bulletin |volume=89 |pages=538–540 |year=1991 |url=http://fishbull.noaa.gov/893/long.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916023842/http://fishbull.noaa.gov/893/long.pdf |archive-date=16 September 2008 |url-status=live}} In addition, white sharks attack and prey upon beaked whales. Cases where an adult Stejneger's beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri), with a mean mass of around {{cvt|1100|kg}},Kays, R. W., & Wilson, D. E. (2009). Mammals of North America. Princeton University Press. and a juvenile Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), an individual estimated at {{cvt|3|m|ft}}, were hunted and killed by great white sharks have also been observed.{{cite journal |last1=Baird |first1=R. W. |last2=Webster |first2=D. L. |last3=Schorr |first3=G. S. |last4=McSweeney |first4=D. J. |last5=Barlow |first5=J. |year=2008 |title=Diet variation in beaked whale diving behavior |url=http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/robin/Bairdetal2007beakedwhales.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221215013/http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/Robin/Bairdetal2007beakedwhales.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2008 |url-status=live |journal=Marine Mammal Science |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=630–642 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-7692.2008.00211.x |bibcode=2008MMamS..24..630B |hdl=10945/697 |s2cid=9876850}} When hunting sea turtles, they appear to simply bite through the carapace around a flipper, immobilizing the turtle. The heaviest species of bony fish, the oceanic sunfish (Mola mola), has been found in great white shark stomachs.

Whale carcasses comprise an important part of the diet of white sharks. However, this has rarely been observed due to whales dying in remote areas. It has been estimated that {{cvt|30|kg}} of whale blubber could feed a {{cvt|4.5|m|ft}} white shark for 1.5 months. Detailed observations were made of four whale carcasses in False Bay between 2000 and 2010. Sharks were drawn to the carcass by chemical and odour detection, spread by strong winds. After initially feeding on the whale caudal peduncle and fluke, the sharks would investigate the carcass by slowly swimming around it and mouthing several parts before selecting a blubber-rich area. During feeding bouts of 15–20 seconds the sharks removed flesh with lateral headshakes, without the protective ocular rotation they employ when attacking live prey. The sharks were frequently observed regurgitating chunks of blubber and immediately returning to feed, possibly in order to replace low energy yield pieces with high energy yield pieces, using their teeth as mechanoreceptors to distinguish them. After feeding for several hours, the sharks appeared to become lethargic, no longer swimming to the surface; they were observed mouthing the carcass but apparently unable to bite hard enough to remove flesh, they would instead bounce off and slowly sink. Up to eight sharks were observed feeding simultaneously, bumping into each other without showing any signs of aggression; on one occasion a shark accidentally bit the head of a neighbouring shark, leaving two teeth embedded, but both continued to feed unperturbed. Smaller individuals hovered around the carcass eating chunks that drifted away. Unusually for the area, large numbers of sharks over five metres long were observed, suggesting that the largest sharks change their behaviour to search for whales as they lose the manoeuvrability required to hunt seals. The investigating team concluded that the importance of whale carcasses, particularly for the largest white sharks, has been underestimated.{{cite journal |last1=Krkosek |first1=Martin |last2=Fallows |first2=Chris |last3=Gallagher |first3=Austin J. |last4=Hammerschlag |first4=Neil |title=White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) Scavenging on Whales and Its Potential Role in Further Shaping the Ecology of an Apex Predator |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=4 |year=2013 |pages=e60797 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0060797 |pmid=23585850 |pmc=3621969 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...860797F|doi-access=free}}

File:White shark (Carcharodon carcharias) scavenging on whale carcass - journal.pone.0060797.g004-A.png, South Africa]]

In another documented incident, white sharks were observed scavenging on a whale carcass alongside tiger sharks.{{cite web |last=Dudley |first=Sheldon F. J. |author2=Anderson-Reade, Michael D. |author3=Thompson, Greg S. |author4=McMullen, Paul B. |title=Concurrent scavenging off a whale carcass by great white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, and tiger sharks, Galeocerdo cuvier |work=Marine Biology |publisher=Fishery Bulletin |year=2000 |url=http://fishbull.noaa.gov/983/13.pdf |access-date=4 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527182623/http://fishbull.noaa.gov/983/13.pdf |archive-date=27 May 2010}} In 2020, marine biologists Sasha Dines and Enrico Gennari published a documented incident in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research of two great white sharks within an hour apart, successfully attacking and killing a live juvenile 7 m (23 ft) humpback whale. The sharks utilized the classic attack strategy used on pinnipeds when attacking the whale, even utilizing the bite-and-spit tactic they employ on smaller prey items. The whale was an entangled individual, heavily emaciated and thus more vulnerable to the sharks' attacks. The incident is the first known documentation of great whites actively killing a large baleen whale.{{Cite journal |url=https://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/MF19291 |title=First observations of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) attacking a live humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) |first1=Sasha |last1=Dines |first2=Enrico |last2=Gennari |date=29 January 2020 |journal=Marine and Freshwater Research |volume=71 |issue=9 |page=1205 |via=www.publish.csiro.au |doi=10.1071/MF19291 |s2cid=212969014 |access-date=17 May 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308080042/https://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/MF19291 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/melissacristinamarquez/2020/03/12/first-observations-of-white-sharks-attacking-a-live-humpback-whale/ |title=First Observations Of White Sharks Attacking A Live Humpback Whale |first=Melissa Cristina |last=Márquez |website=Forbes |access-date=17 May 2020 |archive-date=19 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419133138/https://www.forbes.com/sites/melissacristinamarquez/2020/03/12/first-observations-of-white-sharks-attacking-a-live-humpback-whale/ |url-status=live}} A second incident regarding great white sharks killing humpback whales involving a single large female great white nicknamed Helen was documented off the coast of South Africa. Working alone, the shark attacked a {{Convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}} emaciated and entangled humpback whale by attacking the whale's tail to cripple it before she managed to drown the whale by biting onto its head and pulling it underwater. The attack was witnessed via aerial drone by marine biologist Ryan Johnson, who said the attack went on for roughly 50 minutes before the shark successfully killed the whale. Johnson suggested that the shark may have strategized its attack in order to kill such a large animal.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/great-white-shark-drowns-humpback-whale-predator-south-africa-a9620251.html |title=Drone footage shows a great white shark drowning a 33ft humpback whale |date=15 July 2020 |website=The Independent |access-date=16 July 2020 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718124150/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/great-white-shark-drowns-humpback-whale-predator-south-africa-a9620251.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1309559/shark-attack-great-white-shark-attack-humpback-whale-drone-video |title=Shark attack: Watch 'strategic' Great White hunt down and kill 10 Metre humpback whale |first=Tom |last=Fish |date=15 July 2020 |website=Express.co.uk |access-date=16 July 2020 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718230137/https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1309559/shark-attack-great-white-shark-attack-humpback-whale-drone-video |url-status=live}}

Stomach contents of great whites also indicates that whale sharks both juvenile and adult may also be included on the animal's menu, though whether this is active hunting or scavenging is not known at present.{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2077291-white-sharks-diet-may-include-biggest-fish-of-all-whale-shark/ |title=White shark's diet may include biggest fish of all: whale shark |first=Brian |last=Owens |work=New Scientist |date=12 February 2016 |access-date=13 February 2016 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412232049/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2077291-white-sharks-diet-may-include-biggest-fish-of-all-whale-shark/ |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s12526-015-0430-9 |title=Whale shark on a white shark's menu |journal=Marine Biodiversity |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=745 |year=2015 |last1=Moore |first1=G. I. |last2=Newbrey |first2=M. G. |s2cid=36426982}}

Great white sharks were previously thought to reach sexual maturity at around 15 years of age, but are now believed to take far longer; male great white sharks reach sexual maturity at age 26, while females take 33 years to reach sexual maturity.{{cite web |title=Natural History of the White Shark |url=http://www.prbo.org/cms/176 |date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703015943/http://www.prbo.org/cms/176 |archive-date=3 July 2013 |publisher=PRBO Conservation Science}}{{cite web |url=http://www.inquisitr.com/1909550/legendary-great-white-shark-was-just-a-teenager-when-killed-new-research-reveals/ |title=Legendary Great White Shark Was Just A Teenager When Killed, New Research Reveals |work=The Inquisitr News |date=9 March 2015 |access-date=3 April 2015 |archive-date=25 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625010533/http://www.inquisitr.com/1909550/legendary-great-white-shark-was-just-a-teenager-when-killed-new-research-reveals/ |url-status=live}} Maximum life span was originally believed to be more than 30 years, but a study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution placed it at upwards of 70 years. Examinations of vertebral growth ring count gave a maximum male age of 73 years and a maximum female age of 40 years for the specimens studied. The shark's late sexual maturity, low reproductive rate, long gestation period of 11 months and slow growth make it vulnerable to pressures such as overfishing and environmental change.

Little is known about the great white shark's mating habits, and mating behaviour had not been observed in this species until 1997 and properly documented in 2020. It was assumed previously to be possible that whale carcasses are an important location for sexually mature sharks to meet for mating. According to the testimony of fisherman Dick Ledgerwood, who observed two great white sharks mating in the area near Port Chalmers and Otago Harbor, in New Zealand, it is theorized that great white sharks mate in shallow water away from feeding areas and continually roll belly to belly during copulation.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/04/rolling-and-rolling-and-rolling-the-first-detailed-account-of-great-white-shark-sex |title='Rolling and rolling and rolling': the first detailed account of great white shark sex |first=Eleanor Ainge |last=Roy |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 September 2020 |via=www.theguardian.com |access-date=6 September 2020 |archive-date=6 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906064505/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/04/rolling-and-rolling-and-rolling-the-first-detailed-account-of-great-white-shark-sex |url-status=live}} Birth has never been observed, but pregnant females have been examined. Great white sharks are ovoviviparous, which means eggs develop and hatch in the uterus and continue to develop until birth.{{cite web |url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=38 |title=Carcharodon carcharias, Great White Sharks |publisher=marinebio.org |access-date=12 August 2011 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505222736/https://www.marinebio.org/wp-content/plugins/akismet/_inc/akismet-frontend.js?ver=1710994783 |url-status=live}} The great white has an 11-month gestation period. The shark pup's powerful jaws begin to develop in the first month. The unborn sharks participate in oophagy, in which they feed on ova produced by the mother. Delivery is in spring and summer.{{cite web |title=Brief Overview of the Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/overview.htm |publisher=Elasmo Research |access-date=20 August 2012 |archive-date=13 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213021033/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/overview.htm |url-status=live}} The largest number of pups recorded for this species is 14 pups from a single mother measuring {{cvt|4.5|m|ft}} that was killed incidentally off Taiwan in 2019.{{Cite web |url=https://www.livescience.com/65058-big-mamma-shark-caught-sold.html |title=Enormous Great White Shark Pregnant with Record 14 Pups Was Caught and Sold in Taiwan |first=Kimberly Hickok 2019-03-22T19:03:40Z |last=Animals |website=livescience.com |date=22 March 2019 |access-date=23 March 2019 |archive-date=23 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125730/https://www.livescience.com/65058-big-mamma-shark-caught-sold.html |url-status=live}}

On 9 July 2023, the first footage of what was likely a newborn great white shark was filmed via aerial drone off of Southern California, off Carpinteria, after a large adult shark was seen diving to the bottom roughly {{convert|1000|ft|m|abbr=on}} from the shoreline, after which the smaller shark rose to the surface. The young shark, estimated up to {{convert|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} long, was pale in colour, possibly due to what may be an embryonic covering, possibly intrauterine milk, was seen sloughing off the skin of the young shark. Adult sharks filmed in the area days prior suggest the area may be a birthing ground for pregnant females. This footage was published in the journal Environmental Biology of Fishes on 29 January 2024.{{cite journal |author1=Gauna, C. |author2=Sternes, P.C. |date=29 January 2024 |title=Novel aerial observations of a possible newborn white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in Southern California |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=249–254 |doi=10.1007/s10641-024-01512-7|doi-access=free |bibcode=2024EnvBF.107..249G}} A follow-up study in published in October, 2024 lends further support to the theory that the Carpinteria shark was a newborn; The description and examination of neonate porbeagles with a similar body covering to the young great white suggests that the body covering is not intrauterine milk (which ceases in production mid-gestation), but is instead embryonic epithelium that covers the shark's denticles and rubs off shortly after birth.{{Cite journal |last1=Tomita |first1=Taketeru |last2=Miyamoto |first2=Kei |last3=Nakamura |first3=Masaru |last4=Murakumo |first4=Kiyomi |last5=Toda |first5=Minoru |last6=Sato |first6=Keiichi |date=2024-06-01 |title=Whitish film covering a newborn white shark was not intrauterine material but embryonic epithelium |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10641-024-01560-z |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |language=en |volume=107 |issue=6 |pages=719–722 |doi=10.1007/s10641-024-01560-z |bibcode=2024EnvBF.107..719T |issn=1573-5133}}

File:Great white shark near Gansbaai, South Africa.jpg in South Africa]]

A breach is the result of a high-speed approach to the surface with the resulting momentum taking the shark partially or completely clear of the water. This is a hunting technique employed by great white sharks whilst hunting seals. This technique is often used on cape fur seals at Seal Island in False Bay, South Africa. Because the behaviour is unpredictable, it is very hard to document. It was first photographed by Chris Fallows and Rob Lawrence who developed the technique of towing a slow-moving seal decoy to trick the sharks to breach.{{cite web |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/breaching.htm |title=White Shark Breaching |publisher=ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research |access-date=18 April 2012 |author=Martin, R. Aidan |archive-date=20 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420170144/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/breaching.htm |url-status=live}} Between April and September, scientists may observe around 600 breaches. The seals swim on the surface and the great white sharks launch their predatory attack from the deeper water below. They can reach speeds of up to {{cvt|40|km/h|mph}} and can at times launch themselves more than {{cvt|10|ft|m|order=flip|0}} into the air. Just under half of observed breach attacks are successful.{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=R. A. |last2=Hammerschlag |first2=N. |last3=Collier |first3=R. S. |last4=Fallows |first4=C. |title=Predatory behaviour of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Seal Island, South Africa |doi=10.1017/S002531540501218X |journal=Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK |volume=85 |issue=5 |pages=1121 |year=2005 |bibcode=2005JMBUK..85.1121M |citeseerx=10.1.1.523.6178 |s2cid=17889919}} In 2011, a 3-m-long shark jumped onto a seven-person research vessel off Seal Island in Mossel Bay. The crew were undertaking a population study using sardines as bait, and the incident was judged not to be an attack on the boat but an accident.{{cite news |first=Xan |last=Rice |title=Great white shark jumps from sea into research boat |date=19 July 2011 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/19/great-white-shark-jumps-boat |work=The Guardian |access-date=20 July 2011 |quote=Marine researchers in South Africa had a narrow escape after a {{cvt|3|m|ft|0}} long great white shark breached the surface of the sea and leapt into their boat, becoming trapped on deck for more than an hour. [...] Enrico Gennari, an expert on great white sharks, [...] said it was almost certainly an accident rather than an attack on the boat. |location=London |archive-date=14 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614044317/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/19/great-white-shark-jumps-boat |url-status=live }}

File:Comparison of size of orca and great white shark.svg

Interspecific competition between the great white shark and the orca is probable in regions where dietary preferences of both species may overlap. An incident was documented on 4 October 1997, in the Farallon Islands off California in the United States. An estimated {{cvt|4.7|–|5.3|m}} female orca immobilized an estimated {{cvt|3|–|4|m}} great white shark.{{cite journal |last1=Pyle |first1=Peter |last2=Schramm |first2=Mary Jane |last3=Keiper |first3=Carol |last4=Anderson |first4=Scot D. |title=Predation on a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) by a killer whale (Orcinus orca) and a possible case of competitive displacement |url=http://www.prbo.org/cms/docs/marine/MMS.pdf |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=563–568 |journal=Marine Mammal Science |date=26 August 2006 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-7692.1999.tb00822.x |bibcode=1999MMamS..15..563P |access-date=8 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322070431/http://www.prbo.org/cms/docs/marine/MMS.pdf |archive-date=22 March 2012}} The orca held the shark upside down to induce tonic immobility and kept the shark still for fifteen minutes, causing it to suffocate. The orca then proceeded to eat the dead shark's liver.{{cite web |url=http://www.tvthrong.co.uk/nature-shock/nature-shock-series-premiere-whale-ate-great-white |title=Nature Shock Series Premiere: The Whale That Ate the Great White |publisher=Tvthrong.co.uk |date=4 October 1997 |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406081857/http://www.tvthrong.co.uk/nature-shock/nature-shock-series-premiere-whale-ate-great-white |archive-date=6 April 2012 |url-status=dead}} It is believed that the scent of the slain shark's carcass caused all the great whites in the region to flee, forfeiting an opportunity for a great seasonal feed. Another similar attack apparently occurred there in 2000, but its outcome is not clear.{{cite journal |last=Turner |first=Pamela S. |title=Showdown at Sea: What happens when great white sharks go fin-to-fin with killer whales? |journal=National Wildlife |volume=42 |issue=6 |publisher=National Wildlife Federation |date=Oct–Nov 2004 |url=http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2004/Showdown-at-Sea.aspx|access-date=21 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116235642/https://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2004/Showdown-at-Sea.aspx |archive-date=16 January 2011}} After both attacks, the local population of about 100 great whites vanished. Following the 2000 incident, a great white with a satellite tag was found to have immediately submerged to a depth of {{cvt|500|m|ft}} and swam to Hawaii.

In 2015, a pod of orcas was recorded to have killed a great white shark off South Australia.{{cite web |title=Great white shark 'slammed' and killed by a pod of killer whales in South Australia |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=3 February 2015 |access-date=10 July 2015 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-04/great-white-killed-by-killer-whales-in-sa/6069168 |archive-date=19 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150719051009/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-04/great-white-killed-by-killer-whales-in-sa/6069168 |url-status=live}} In 2017, three great whites were found washed ashore near Gansbaai, South Africa, with their body cavities torn open and the livers removed by what is likely to have been orcas.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/killer-whales-have-been-killing-great-white-sharks-in-cape-waters/ |title=Killer whales have been killing great white sharks in Cape waters |last=Haden |first=Alexis |date=6 June 2017 |work=The South African |access-date=27 June 2017 |archive-date=4 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704055117/https://www.thesouthafrican.com/killer-whales-have-been-killing-great-white-sharks-in-cape-waters/ |url-status=live}} Orcas also generally impact great white distribution. Studies published in 2019 of orca and great white shark distribution and interactions around the Farallon Islands indicate that the cetaceans impact the sharks negatively, with brief appearances by orcas causing the sharks to seek out new feeding areas until the next season.{{cite journal |author=Jorgensen, S. J.|display-authors=etal |year=2019 |title=Killer whales redistribute white shark foraging pressure on seals |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=6153 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-39356-2|doi-access=free |pmid=30992478 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.6153J |pmc=6467992}} It is unclear whether this is an example of competitive exclusion or ecology of fear. Occasionally, however, some great whites have been seen to swim near orcas without fear.{{cite news |last=Starr |first=Michell |title=Incredible Footage Reveals Orcas Chasing Off The Ocean's Most Terrifying Predator |publisher=Science Alert |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-orcas-surround-and-scare-off-the-ocean-s-most-terrifying-predator |date=11 November 2019 |access-date=24 November 2019 |archive-date=11 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111234146/https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-orcas-surround-and-scare-off-the-ocean-s-most-terrifying-predator |url-status=live}}

The great white shark is the definitive host of two species of tapeworms from the genus Clistobothrium, these being Clistobothrium carcharodoni and Clistobothrium tumidum, both of which infect the shark's spiral intestine.{{cite journal|last=Ruhnke|first=Timothy R.|title=A New Species of Clistobothrium (Cestoda: Tetraphyllidea), with an Evaluation of the Systematic Status of the Genus|date=February 1993|journal=Journal of Parasitology|publisher=Allen Press|volume=79|number=1|pages=37–43|doi=10.2307/3283274|jstor=3283274|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3283274|access-date=20 May 2024}} The former is believed to be transmitted to great whites through the consumption of infected cetacean prey, namely the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), and the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), all of which serve as intermediary or paratenic hosts of the tapeworm.{{cite journal|last=Randhawa|first=Haseeb S.|title=Insights using a molecular approach into the life cycle of a tapeworm infecting great white sharks|date=1 April 2011|journal=Journal of Parasitology|publisher=Allen Press|volume=92|number=2|pages=275–280|doi=10.1645/GE-2530.1|pmid=21506792 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51064300|access-date=20 May 2024}} The latter species of tapeworm's transmission vector is currently unknown, but it is unlikely to share the same intermediary hosts as Clisbotherium carcharodoni.{{cite journal|last1=Caira|first1=Janine N.|last2=Jensen|first2=Kirsten|last3=Pickering|first3=Maria|last4=Ruhnke|first4=Timothy R.|last5=Gallagher|first5=Kaitlin A.|title=Intrigue surrounding the life-cycles of species of Clistobothrium (Cestoda: Phyllobothriidea) parasitising large pelagic sharks|orig-date=4 April 2020|date=7 November 2020|journal=International Journal for Parasitology|publisher=Elsevier|volume=50|issue=13|pages=1043–1055|doi=10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.08.002|doi-access=free|pmid=32979336 }} The intensity of Clistobothrium carcharodoni infestations in affected great whites is extremely high; in one case, up to 2,533 specimens were recovered from the spiral valve of a single great white.

There are two recorded instances of the ectoparasitic cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis) targeting subadult great whites off the coast of Guadalupe Island. However, the relative dearth of predation records indicates that great whites are not a common food source for cookiecutter sharks, and that cetaceans and pinnipeds - especially the Guadalupe fur seal (Arctocephalus townsendi) - are preferred over great whites; in part due to the higher caloric content of their blubber, and in part due to the higher risk of retaliation from victimized great whites.{{cite journal|last1=Hoyos-Padilla|first1=Mauricio|last2=Papastamatiou|first2=Yannis P.|last3=O'Sullivan|first3=John|last4=Lowe|first4=Christopher G.|title=Observation of an Attack by a Cookiecutter Shark (Isistius brasiliensis) on a White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)|date=1 January 2013|journal=Pacific Science|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|volume=67|issue=1|pages=129–134|doi=10.2984/67.1.10|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273689577}}

{{Main|Shark attack}}

Of all shark species, the great white shark is responsible for by far the largest number of recorded shark bite incidents on humans, with 351 documented unprovoked bite incidents on humans as of 2024.

More than any documented bite incident, Peter Benchley's best-selling novel Jaws and the subsequent 1975 film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg provided the great white shark with the image of being a "man-eater" in the public mind.{{cite journal |first=Peter |last=Benchley |date=April 2000 |title=Great white sharks |journal=National Geographic |page=12 |quote=considering the knowledge accumulated about sharks in the last 25 years, I couldn't possibly write Jaws today ... not in good conscience anyway ... back then, it was OK to demonize an animal. |issn=0027-9358}} While great white sharks have killed humans in at least 74 documented unprovoked bite incidents, they typically do not target them: for example, in the Mediterranean Sea there have been 31 confirmed bite incidents against humans in the last two centuries, most of which were non-fatal. Many of the incidents seemed to be "test-bites". Great white sharks also test-bite buoys, flotsam, and other unfamiliar objects, and they might grab a human or a surfboard to identify what it is.

File:Surfacing great white shark.jpg

Many bite incidents occur in waters with low visibility or other situations which impair the shark's senses. The species appears to not like the taste of humans, or at least finds the taste unfamiliar. Further research shows that they can tell in one bite whether or not the object is worth predating upon. Humans, for the most part, are too bony for their liking. They much prefer seals, which are fat and rich in protein.{{cite web |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/mistaken_identity.htm |title=White Shark Attacks: Mistaken Identity |last=Martin |first=R. Aidan |year=2003 |website=Biology of Sharks and Rays |publisher=ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research |access-date=30 August 2016 |archive-date=5 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905153552/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/mistaken_identity.htm |url-status=live}}

Studies published in 2021 by Ryan et al. in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface suggest that mistaken identity is in fact a case for many shark bite incidents perpetrated by great white sharks. Using cameras and footage of seals in aquariums as models and mounted cameras moving at the same speed and angle as a cruising great white shark looking up at the surface from below, the experiment suggests that the sharks are likely colorblind and cannot see in fine enough detail to determine whether the silhouette above them is a pinniped or a swimming human, potentially vindicating the hypothesis.{{Cite journal |title=A shark's eye view: testing the 'mistaken identity theory' behind shark bites on humans |first1=Laura A. |last1=Ryan |first2=David J. |last2=Slip |first3=Lucille |last3=Chapuis |first4=Shaun P. |last4=Collin |first5=Enrico |last5=Gennari |first6=Jan M. |last6=Hemmi |first7=Martin J. |last7=How |first8=Charlie |last8=Huveneers |first9=Victor M. |last9=Peddemors|first10=Louise|last10=Tosetto |first11=Nathan S. |last11=Hart |journal=Journal of the Royal Society Interface |year=2021 |volume=18 |issue=183 |pages=20210533 |doi=10.1098/rsif.2021.0533 |pmid=34699727 |pmc=8548079}}

Humans are not appropriate prey because the shark's digestion is too slow to cope with a human's high ratio of bone to muscle and fat. Accordingly, in most recorded shark bite incidents, great whites broke off contact after the first bite. Fatalities are usually caused by blood loss from the initial bite rather than from critical organ loss or from whole consumption. {{As of|2024}}, of the 351 recorded unprovoked attacks, 59 were fatal.{{cite web |title=ISAF Statistics for Worldwide Unprovoked White Shark Attacks Since 1990 |url=http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/White/whitesharkdecade.html |date=10 February 2011 |access-date=19 August 2011 |archive-date=27 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127141416/http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/White/whitesharkdecade.html |url-status=live}}

However, some researchers have hypothesized that the reason the proportion of fatalities is low is not that sharks do not like human flesh, but because humans are often able to escape after the first bite. In the 1980s, John McCosker, chair of aquatic biology at the California Academy of Sciences, noted that divers who dived solo and were bitten by great whites were generally at least partially consumed, while divers who followed the buddy system were generally rescued by their companion. McCosker and Timothy C. Tricas, an author and professor at the University of Hawaii, suggest that a standard pattern for great whites is to make an initial devastating attack and then wait for the prey to weaken before consuming the wounded animal. Humans' ability to move out of reach with the help of others, thus foiling the attack, is unusual for a great white's prey.{{cite journal |first=T.C. |last=Tricas |author2=McCosker, John |journal=Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences |series=Series 4 |title=Predatory behavior of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, and notes on its biology |volume=43 |issue=14 |pages=221–238 |year=1984 |url=https://archive.org/details/cbarchive_109514_predatorybehaviourofthewhitesh1982}}

{{Main|Shark culling}}

Shark culling is the deliberate killing of sharks by a government in an attempt to reduce shark attacks; shark culling is often called "shark control". These programs have been criticized by environmentalists and scientists—they say these programs harm the marine ecosystem; they also say such programs are "outdated, cruel, and ineffective".{{citation |url=https://www.ntd.tv/2018/09/04/video-endangered-hammerhead-sharks-dead-on-drum-line-in-great-barrier-reef/ |last=Phillips |first=Jack |date=4 September 2018 |title=Video: Endangered Hammerhead Sharks Dead on Drum Line in Great Barrier Reef |publisher=Ntd.tv |access-date=30 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919094449/https://www.ntd.tv/2018/09/04/video-endangered-hammerhead-sharks-dead-on-drum-line-in-great-barrier-reef/ |archive-date=19 September 2018 |url-status=dead}} Many different species (dolphins, turtles, etc.) are also killed in these programs (because of their use of shark nets and drum lines)—15,135 marine animals were killed in New South Wales' nets between 1950 and 2008, and 84,000 marine animals were killed by Queensland authorities from 1962 to 2015.{{citation |url=http://www.afd.org.au/news-articles/queenslands-shark-control-program-has-snagged-84000-animals |title=Action for Dolphins. Queensland's Shark Control Program Has Snagged 84,000 Animals |author=Thom Mitchell |date=20 November 2015 |access-date=30 August 2019 |archive-date=24 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224053505/https://www.afd.org.au/news-articles/queenslands-shark-control-program-has-snagged-84000-animals |url-status=live}}

Great white sharks are currently killed in both Queensland and New South Wales in "shark control" (shark culling) programs. Queensland uses shark nets and drum lines with baited hooks, while New South Wales only uses nets. From 1962 to 2018, Queensland authorities killed about 50,000 sharks, many of which were great whites.{{cite journal |last1=Roff |first1=George |first2=Christopher J. |last2=Brown |first3=Mark A. |last3=Priest |first4=Peter J. |last4=Mumby |title=Decline of coastal apex shark populations over the past half century |journal=Communications Biology |volume=1 |issue=1 |year=2018 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1038/s42003-018-0233-1 |pmid=30564744 |pmc=6292889}} From 2013 to 2014 alone, 667 sharks were killed by Queensland authorities, including great white sharks. In Queensland, great white sharks found alive on the drum lines are shot. In New South Wales, between 1950 and 2008, a total of 577 great white sharks were killed in nets. Between September 2017 and April 2018, fourteen great white sharks were killed in New South Wales.{{citation |url=http://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2018/08/04/sydney-shark-nets-set-stay-despite-drumline-success |last=Mackenzie |first=Bruce |date=4 August 2018 |title=Sydney Shark Nets Set to Stay Despite Drumline Success |publisher=Swellnet.com. |access-date=30 August 2019 |archive-date=21 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921114712/http://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2018/08/04/sydney-shark-nets-set-stay-despite-drumline-success |url-status=live}}

KwaZulu-Natal (an area of South Africa) also has a "shark control" program that kills great white sharks and other marine life. In a 30-year period, more than 33,000 sharks were killed in KwaZulu-Natal's shark-killing program, including great whites.{{citation |url=http://www.sharkangels.org/index.php/media/news/157-shark-nets |title=Shark Nets |publisher=Sharkangels.org |access-date=30 August 2019 |archive-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919132309/http://www.sharkangels.org/index.php/media/news/157-shark-nets |url-status=dead}}

In 2014 the state government of Western Australia led by Premier Colin Barnett implemented a policy of killing large sharks. The policy, colloquially referred to as the Western Australian shark cull, was intended to protect users of the marine environment from shark bite incidents, following the deaths of seven people on the Western Australian coastline in the years 2010–2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/About-Us/Media-releases/Pages/New-measures-to-combat-WA-shark-risks.aspx |title=New measures to combat WA shark risks |publisher=Department of Fisheries, Western Australia |date=10 December 2013|access-date=2 February 2014|archive-date=1 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201195519/http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/About-Us/Media-releases/Pages/New-measures-to-combat-WA-shark-risks.aspx|url-status=dead}} Baited drum lines were deployed near popular beaches using hooks designed to catch great white sharks, as well as bull and tiger sharks. Large sharks found hooked but still alive were shot and their bodies discarded at sea.{{citation |last=Arup |first=Tom |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=21 January 2014 |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/greg-hunt-grants-wa-exemption-for-shark-cull-plan-20140121-315zk.html |title=Greg Hunt grants WA exemption for shark cull plan|archive-date=22 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122181103/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/greg-hunt-grants-wa-exemption-for-shark-cull-plan-20140121-315zk.html |publisher=Fairfax Media}} The government claimed they were not culling the sharks, but were using a "targeted, localised, hazard mitigation strategy".{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-22/can-governments-protect-people-from-killer-sharks/5158880 |title=Can governments protect people from killer sharks? |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=22 December 2013 |access-date=2 February 2014 |archive-date=31 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031175236/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-22/can-governments-protect-people-from-killer-sharks/5158880 |url-status=live}} Barnett described opposition as "ludicrous" and "extreme", and said that nothing could change his mind.{{Cite web |url=http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/australia-shark-policy-stay-despite-threats-5815606 |date=29 January 2014 |title=Australia shark policy to stay, despite threats |access-date = 6 February 2023 |agency=Associated Press |website=www.tvnz.co.nz |archive-date = 30 January 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140130064852/http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/australia-shark-policy-stay-despite-threats-5815606 |url-status = bot: unknown}} This policy was met with widespread condemnation from the scientific community, which showed that species responsible for bite incidents were notoriously hard to identify, that the drum lines failed to capture white sharks, as intended, and that the government also failed to show any correlation between their drum line policy and a decrease in shark bite incidents in the region.{{Cite web |url=http://www.southernfriedscience.com/more-than-100-shark-scientists-including-me-oppose-the-cull-in-western-australia/ |title=More than 100 shark scientists, including me, oppose the cull in Western Australia |date=23 December 2013 |language=en-US |access-date=31 August 2016 |archive-date=22 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822234618/http://www.southernfriedscience.com/more-than-100-shark-scientists-including-me-oppose-the-cull-in-western-australia/ |url-status=live}}

Great white sharks infrequently bite and sometimes even sink boats. Only five of the 108 authenticated unprovoked shark bite incidents reported from the Pacific Coast during the 20th century involved kayakers.{{cite web |url=http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/unprovoked_kayaker.htm |title=Unprovoked White Shark Attacks on Kayakers |publisher=Shark Research Committee |access-date=14 September 2008 |archive-date=20 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720031600/http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/unprovoked_kayaker.htm |url-status=live}} In a few cases they have bitten boats up to {{cvt|10|m}} in length. They have bumped or knocked people overboard, usually biting the boat from the stern. In one case in 1936, a large shark leapt completely into the South African fishing boat Lucky Jim, knocking a crewman into the sea. Tricas and McCosker's underwater observations suggest that sharks are attracted to boats by the electrical fields they generate, which are picked up by the ampullae of Lorenzini and confuse the shark about whether or not wounded prey might be nearby.{{cite journal |last1=Tricas |first1=Timothy C. |last2=McCosker |first2=John E. |title=Predatory Behaviour of the White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias), with Notes on its Biology |year=1984 |journal=Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences |volume=43 |issue=14 |pages=221–238 |url=http://www.hawaii.edu/fishlab/pubs/Tricas%20&%20McCosker%201984.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907163257/http://www.hawaii.edu/fishlab/pubs/Tricas%20&%20McCosker%201984.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2008 |url-status=live}}

{{See also|Monterey Bay Aquarium#Great white sharks}}

File:Great white aqurium.jpg in September 2006|alt=Photo of shark]]

Prior to August 1981, no great white shark in captivity lived longer than 11 days. In August 1981, a great white survived for 16 days at SeaWorld San Diego before being released.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-10-02-great-white_x.htm |title=Great white shark sets record at California aquarium |work=USA Today |date=2 October 2004 |access-date=27 September 2006 |archive-date=7 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107233833/http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-10-02-great-white_x.htm |url-status=live}} The idea of containing a live great white at SeaWorld Orlando was used in the 1983 film Jaws 3-D.

Monterey Bay Aquarium first attempted to display a great white in 1984, but the shark died after 11 days because it did not eat.{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/08/462455785/great-white-shark-dies-after-just-3-days-in-captivity-at-japan-aquarium |title=Great White Shark Dies After Just 3 Days In Captivity At Japan Aquarium |last=Hopkins |first=Christopher Dean |date=8 January 2016 |work=NPR |access-date=21 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403122512/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/08/462455785/great-white-shark-dies-after-just-3-days-in-captivity-at-japan-aquarium |archive-date=3 April 2017 |url-status=live}} In July 2003, Monterey researchers captured a small female and kept it in a large netted pen near Malibu for five days. They had the rare success of getting the shark to feed in captivity before its release.{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/09/16/BAGCM8PN3E1.DTL |title=Great white shark puts jaws on display in aquarium tank |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=16 September 2004 |access-date=27 September 2006 |first=Alan |last=Gathright |archive-date=28 August 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050828115804/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/09/16/BAGCM8PN3E1.DTL |url-status=live}} Not until September 2004 was the aquarium able to place a great white on long-term exhibit. A young female, which was caught off the coast of Ventura, was kept in the aquarium's {{Convert|3.8|e6l|e6USgal|0|abbr=unit}} Outer Bay exhibit for 198 days before she was released in March 2005. She was tracked for 30 days after release.{{cite web |url=http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/whiteshark.asp |title=White Shark Research Project |publisher=Monterey Bay Aquarium|access-date=27 September 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119071210/http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/whiteshark.aspx|archive-date=19 January 2013}} On the evening of 31 August 2006, the aquarium introduced a juvenile male caught outside Santa Monica Bay.{{cite news |url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/01/MNG1IKTP904.DTL |title=Great white shark introduced at Monterey Bay Aquarium |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=1 September 2003 |access-date=27 September 2006 |first=Chuck |last=Squatriglia |archive-date=6 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206001357/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/01/MNG1IKTP904.DTL |url-status=live}} His first meal as a captive was a large salmon steak on 8 September 2006, and as of that date, he was estimated to be {{cvt|1.72|m|in}} in length and to weigh approximately {{cvt|47|kg}}. He was released on 16 January 2007, after 137 days in captivity.

Monterey Bay Aquarium housed a third great white, a juvenile male, for 162 days between 27 August 2007, and 5 February 2008. On arrival, he was {{cvt|1.4|m|ft}} long and weighed {{cvt|30.6|kg}}. He grew to {{cvt|1.8|m|ft}} and {{cvt|64|kg}} before release. A juvenile female came to the Outer Bay Exhibit on 27 August 2008. While she did swim well, the shark fed only once during her stay and was tagged and released on 7 September 2008. Another juvenile female was captured near Malibu on 12 August 2009, introduced to the Outer Bay exhibit on 26 August 2009, and was successfully released into the wild on 4 November 2009.{{cite web |url=http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_whiteshark/whiteshark_ours.aspx |publisher=Monterey Bay Aquarium |title=Learn All About Our New White Shark |access-date=28 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120151638/http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_whiteshark/whiteshark_ours.aspx |archive-date=20 November 2009}} The Monterey Bay Aquarium introduced a 1.4-m-long male into their redesigned "Open Sea" exhibit on 31 August 2011. He was exhibited for 55 days, and was released into the wild on 25 October the same year. However, the shark was determined to have died shortly after release via an attached electronic tag. The cause of death is not known.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/09/01/new-great-white-shark-goes-on-display-at-monterey-bay-aquarium/ |title=New great white shark goes on display at Monterey Bay Aquarium |date=1 September 2011 |access-date=8 July 2020 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024124707/https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/09/01/new-great-white-shark-goes-on-display-at-monterey-bay-aquarium/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/11/03/great-white-shark-dies-shortly-after-release-from-monterey-aquarium/ |title=Great White Shark Dies Shortly After Release From Monterey Aquarium |date=3 November 2011 |access-date=8 July 2020 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415021434/https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/11/03/great-white-shark-dies-shortly-after-release-from-monterey-aquarium/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-xpm-2011-nov-03-la-trb-shark-monterey-aquarium-20111103-story.html |title=Great white shark dies after release from Monterey Bay Aquarium |date=3 November 2011 |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=8 July 2020 |archive-date=21 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021101154/https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-xpm-2011-nov-03-la-trb-shark-monterey-aquarium-20111103-story.html |url-status=live}}

The Monterey Bay Aquarium does not plan to exhibit any more great whites, as the main purpose of containing them was scientific. As data from captive great whites were no longer needed, the institute has instead shifted its focus to study wild sharks.{{cite web |url=https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/white-shark |title=White Shark |publisher=Monterey Bay Aquarium |access-date=21 August 2021 |archive-date=28 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628011756/https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/white-shark |url-status=live}}

One of the largest adult great whites ever exhibited was at Japan's Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in 2016, where a {{cvt|3.5|m|ft}} male was exhibited for three days before dying.{{Cite news |title=Great White Shark Dies at Aquarium in Japan |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2016/01/08/great-white-shark-dies-at-japan-aquarium/?mod=e2fb |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |access-date=9 January 2016 |first=Jun |last=Hongo |date=8 January 2016 |archive-date=10 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110165031/http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2016/01/08/great-white-shark-dies-at-japan-aquarium/?mod=e2fb |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Great white shark dies after three days in Japanese aquarium |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/12086603/Okinawa-Aquarium-showcases-only-great-white-shark-in-captivity-in-the-world.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107142051/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/12086603/Okinawa-Aquarium-showcases-only-great-white-shark-in-captivity-in-the-world.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 January 2016 |website=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=9 January 2016}} Perhaps the most famous captive was a {{cvt|2.4|m|ft}} female named Sandy, which in August 1980 became the only great white to be housed at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California. She was released because she would not eat and constantly bumped against the walls.{{cite web |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/electroreception.htm |title=Electroreception |publisher=Elasmo-research |access-date=27 September 2006 |archive-date=11 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190211140806/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/electroreception.htm |url-status=live}}

Due to the vast amounts of resources required and the subsequent cost to keep a great white shark alive in captivity, their dietary preferences, size, migratory nature, and the stress of capture and containment, permanent exhibition of a great white shark is likely to be unfeasible.{{Cite web |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/the-reason-you-never-see-a-great-white-shark-in-an-aquarium#:~:text=Basically%2C%20there%20are%20two%20main%20reasons%20great%20whites,of%20the%20oceans%20no%20matter%20what%20zookeepers%20do. |title=There's a Reason You'll Never See a Great White Shark in an Aquarium |date=11 July 2016 |access-date=6 September 2020 |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926020628/https://www.sciencealert.com/the-reason-you-never-see-a-great-white-shark-in-an-aquarium#:~:text=Basically%2C%20there%20are%20two%20main%20reasons%20great%20whites,of%20the%20oceans%20no%20matter%20what%20zookeepers%20do. |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Shark cage diving}}

Cage diving is most common at sites where great whites are frequent including the coast of South Africa, the Neptune Islands in South Australia,{{cite web |title=Shark cage diving |url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/marineparks/enjoy/shark-cage-diving |publisher=Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources|access-date=11 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409072843/http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/marineparks/Enjoy/shark-cage-diving |archive-date=9 April 2013}} and Guadalupe Island in Baja California. The popularity of cage diving and swimming with sharks is at the focus of a booming tourist industry.{{cite news |last=Squires |first=Nick |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/256863.stm |title=Swimming With Sharks |publisher=BBC |date=18 January 1999|access-date=21 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030817170427/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/256863.stm |archive-date=17 August 2003}}{{cite news |last=Simon |first=Bob |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/swimming-with-sharks-06-12-2005/ |title=Swimming With Sharks |publisher=60 Minutes |date=11 December 2005 |access-date=22 January 2010 |archive-date=19 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019222305/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/06/60minutes/main1099368.shtml |url-status=live}} A common practice is to chum the water with pieces of fish to attract the sharks. These practices may make sharks more accustomed to people in their environment and to associate human activity with food; a potentially dangerous situation. By drawing bait on a wire towards the cage, tour operators lure the shark to the cage, possibly striking it, exacerbating this problem. Other operators draw the bait away from the cage, causing the shark to swim past the divers.

At present, hang baits are illegal off Isla Guadalupe and reputable dive operators do not use them. Operators in South Africa and Australia continue to use hang baits and pinniped decoys.{{cite web |title=Blue Water Hunting Successfully |url=http://www.bluewaterhunter.com/education/education_successfully.html |publisher=Blue Water Hunter |access-date=20 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818030820/http://www.bluewaterhunter.com/education/education_successfully.html |archive-date=18 August 2012}} In South Australia, playing rock music recordings underwater, including the AC/DC album Back in Black has also been used experimentally to attract sharks.[http://www.surfersvillage.com/content/great-white-sharks-favorite-tune-back-black "A Great white shark's favorite tune? 'Back in Black'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416021034/http://www.surfersvillage.com/content/great-white-sharks-favorite-tune-back-black |date=16 April 2016 }} Surfersvillage Global Surf News (3 June 2011). Retrieved 30 January 2014.

Companies object to being blamed for shark bite incidents, pointing out that lightning tends to strike humans more often than sharks bite humans.{{cite web |url=http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/attacks/relarisklightning.htm |title=Shark Attacks Compared to Lightning |publisher=Florida Museum of Natural History |date=18 July 2003 |access-date=7 November 2006 |archive-date=15 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215171334/http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/attacks/relarisklightning.htm |url-status=live}} Their position is that further research needs to be done before banning practices such as chumming, which may alter natural behaviour.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3716093.stm |title=SA shark attacks blamed on tourism |publisher=BBC |date=15 April 2004|access-date=24 October 2006 |first=Richard |last=Hamilton|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323072204/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3716093.stm |archive-date=23 March 2012}} One compromise is to only use chum in areas where whites actively patrol anyway, well away from human leisure areas. Also, responsible dive operators do not feed sharks. Only sharks that are willing to scavenge follow the chum trail and if they find no food at the end then the shark soon swims off and does not associate chum with a meal. It has been suggested that government licensing strategies may help enforce these responsible tourism.

File:Chuming the water.jpg|alt=Photo of man dropping chum off the side of a boat|Putting chum in the water

File:Great white Dyer island 2010-07.jpg|A great white shark approaches divers in a cage off Dyer Island, Western Cape, South Africa

File:Great white shark and cage diving 2.wmv.OGG|A great white shark approaches a cage

File:White shark cage diving, Gansbaai.jpg|Tourists in a cage near Gansbaai

It is unclear how much of a concurrent increase in fishing for great white sharks has caused the decline of great white shark populations from the 1970s to the present. No accurate global population numbers are available, but the great white shark is now considered vulnerable worldwide, and critically endangered in Europe and the Mediterranean.{{cite iucn |author=Soldo, A. |author2=Bradai, M.N. |author3=Walls, R.H.L. |year=2016 |title=Carcharodon carcharias (Mediterranean assessment) |volume=2016 |page=e.T3855A16527829 |doi= |access-date=22 January 2025}} Sharks taken during the long interval between birth and sexual maturity never reproduce, making population recovery and growth difficult.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature notes that very little is known about the actual status of the great white shark, but as it appears uncommon compared to other widely distributed species, it is considered vulnerable. It is included in Appendix II of CITES, meaning that international trade in the species (including parts and derivatives) requires a permit.{{cite web |url=http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/text.shtml#IV |title=Regulation of Trade in Specimens of Species Included in Appendix II |publisher=CITES (1973)|access-date=8 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717182355/http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/text.shtml#IV |archive-date=17 July 2011}} As of March 2010, it has also been included in Annex I of the CMS Migratory Sharks MoU, which strives for increased international understanding and coordination for the protection of certain migratory sharks.{{cite web |title=Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks |url=http://www.cms.int/species/sharks/MoU/Migratory_Shark_MoU_Eng.pdf |access-date=31 August 2012 |publisher=Convention on Migratory Species |date=12 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420171816/http://www.cms.int/species/sharks/MoU/Migratory_Shark_MoU_Eng.pdf |archive-date=20 April 2013}} A February 2010 study by Barbara Block of Stanford University estimated the world population of great white sharks to be lower than 3,500 individuals, making the species more vulnerable to extinction than the tiger, whose population is in the same range.{{cite news |title=Great white shark is more endangered than tiger, claims scientist |author=Sample, Ian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/feb/19/great-white-shark-endangered-tiger |newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 February 2010 |access-date=14 August 2013 |archive-date=9 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909112607/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/feb/19/great-white-shark-endangered-tiger |url-status=live}} According to another study from 2014 by George H. Burgess, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, there are about 2,000 great white sharks near the California coast, which is 10 times higher than the previous estimate of 219 by Barbara Block.{{cite magazine |last1=Jenkins |first1=P. Nash |title=Beachgoers Beware: The Great White Shark Population Is Growing Again |url=https://time.com/2916040/us-great-white-shark-population/ |access-date=29 October 2014 |magazine=Time |date=24 June 2014 |archive-date=31 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031010147/http://time.com/2916040/us-great-white-shark-population/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Gannon |first1=Megan |title=Great White Sharks Are Making a Comeback off US Coasts |url=http://www.livescience.com/46442-great-whites-are-making-a-comeback.html? |website=livescience.com |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=29 October 2014 |archive-date=8 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108010946/http://www.livescience.com/46442-great-whites-are-making-a-comeback.html |url-status=live}}

Fishermen target many sharks for their jaws, teeth, and fins, and as game fish in general. The great white shark, however, is rarely an object of commercial fishing, although its flesh is considered valuable. If casually captured (it happens for example in some tonnare in the Mediterranean), it is misleadingly sold as smooth-hound shark.{{cite book |last1=De Maddalena |first1=Alessandro |last2=Heim |first2=Walter |title=Mediterranean Great White Sharks: A Comprehensive Study Including All Recorded Sightings |publisher=McFarland |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-7864-5889-9}}

The great white shark was declared vulnerable by the Australian Government in 1999 because of significant population decline and is currently protected under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.{{cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=64470 |title=Species Profile and Threats Database – Carcharodon carcharias—Great White Shark |author=Government of Australia |access-date=21 August 2013 |archive-date=14 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214225457/http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=64470 |url-status=live}} The causes of decline prior to protection included mortality from sport fishing harvests as well as being caught in beach protection netting.{{cite report |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/white-shark-carcharodon-carcharias-recovery-plan |title=White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Recovery Plan |year=2002 |author=Environment Australia |access-date=17 November 2013 |archive-date=21 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221165131/http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/white-shark-carcharodon-carcharias-recovery-plan |url-status=live}}

The national conservation status of the great white shark is reflected by all Australian states under their respective laws, granting the species full protection throughout Australia regardless of jurisdiction. Many states had prohibited the killing or possession of great white sharks prior to national legislation coming into effect. The great white shark is further listed as threatened in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, and as rare or likely to become extinct under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife Conservation Act in Western Australia.

In 2002, the Australian government created the White Shark Recovery Plan, implementing government-mandated conservation research and monitoring for conservation in addition to federal protection and stronger regulation of shark-related trade and tourism activities. An updated recovery plan was published in 2013 to review progress, research findings, and to implement further conservation actions. A study in 2012 revealed that Australia's white shark population was separated by Bass Strait into genetically distinct eastern and western populations, indicating a need for the development of regional conservation strategies.{{cite journal |last1=Blower |first1=Dean C. |last2=Pandolfi |first2=John M. |last3=Bruce |first3=Barry D. |last4=Gomez-Cabrera |first4=Maria del C. |last5=Ovenden |first5=Jennifer R. |year=2012 |title=Population genetics of Australian white sharks reveals fine-scale spatial structure, transoceanic dispersal events and low effective population sizes |journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series |volume=455 |pages=229–244 |doi=10.3354/meps09659 |bibcode=2012MEPS..455..229B|doi-access=free}}

Presently, human-caused shark mortality is continuing, primarily from accidental and illegal catching in commercial and recreational fishing as well as from being caught in beach protection netting, and the populations of great white shark in Australia are yet to recover.

In spite of official protections in Australia, great white sharks continue to be killed in state "shark control" programs within Australia. For example, the government of Queensland has a "shark control" program (shark culling) which kills great white sharks (as well as other marine life) using shark nets and drum lines with baited hooks.{{cite web |url=https://www.seashepherd.org.au/apex-harmony/overview/about-the-campaign.html |title=About the Campaign: Sea Shepherd Working Together With The Community To Establish Sustainable Solutions To Shark Bite Incidents |website=seashepherd.org |access-date=29 August 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408052757/http://www.seashepherd.org.au/apex-harmony/overview/about-the-campaign.html}}{{cite web |url=https://www.marineconservation.org.au/pages/shark-culling.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002102324/https://www.marineconservation.org.au/pages/shark-culling.html |archive-date=2 October 2018 |website=marineconservation.org.au. |title=Shark culling |access-date=30 August 2019}} In Queensland, great white sharks that are found alive on the baited hooks are shot.{{cite web |url=http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/brutal-lengths-australia-going-order-keep-sharks-away-tourists/ |publisher=One Green Planet |title=Heartbreaking Photos Show the Brutal Lengths Australia Is Going to In Order to 'Keep Sharks Away From Tourists' |first=Kelly |last=Wang |date=4 September 2018 |access-date=29 August 2019 |archive-date=30 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830213532/https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/brutal-lengths-australia-going-order-keep-sharks-away-tourists/ |url-status=live}} The government of New South Wales also kills great white sharks in its "shark control" program. Partly because of these programs, shark numbers in eastern Australia have decreased.

The Australasian population of great white sharks is believed to be in excess of 8,000–10,000 individuals according to genetic research studies done by CSIRO, with an adult population estimated to be around 2,210 individuals in both Eastern and Western Australia. The annual survival rate for juveniles in these two separate populations was estimated in the same study to be close to 73 per cent, while adult sharks had a 93 per cent annual survival rate. Whether or not mortality rates in great white sharks have declined, or the population has increased as a result of the protection of this species in Australian waters is as yet unknown due to the slow growth rates of this species.{{Cite web |url=http://theconversation.com/world-first-genetic-analysis-reveals-aussie-white-shark-numbers-91479 |title=World-first genetic analysis reveals Aussie white shark numbers |first1=Rich |last1=Hillary |first2=Russ |last2=Bradford |first3=Toby |last3=Patterson |website=The Conversation |date=8 February 2018 |access-date=21 August 2021 |archive-date=17 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617100838/https://theconversation.com/world-first-genetic-analysis-reveals-aussie-white-shark-numbers-91479 |url-status=live}}

The great white shark is one of the most commonly found in the waters of New Zealand.{{citeq|Q114871191|pp=164-169}} As of April 2007, great white sharks were fully protected within {{cvt|370|km}} of New Zealand and additionally from fishing by New Zealand-flagged boats outside this range. The maximum penalty is a $250,000 fine and up to six months in prison.{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10413182 |title=Great white sharks to be protected |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=30 November 2006 |access-date=30 November 2006 |archive-date=4 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104123819/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10413182 |url-status=live}} In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the great white shark under the New Zealand Threat Classification System as "Nationally Endangered". The species meets the criteria for this classification as there exists a moderate, stable population of between 1000 and 5000 mature individuals. This classification has the qualifiers "Data Poor" and "Threatened Overseas".{{Cite book |url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nztcs23entire.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115182429/https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nztcs23entire.pdf |archive-date=15 January 2019 |url-status=live |title=Conservation status of New Zealand chondrichthyans (chimaeras, sharks and rays), 2016 |last1=Duffy |first1=Clinton A. J. |last2=Francis |first2=Malcolm |last3=Dunn |first3=M. R. |last4=Finucci |first4=Brit |last5=Ford |first5=Richard |last6=Hitchmough |first6=Rod |last7=Rolfe |first7=Jeremy |publisher=Department of Conservation |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-988514-62-8 |location=Wellington, New Zealand |pages=9 |oclc=1042901090}}

In addition to existing federal regulations, great white sharks have been protected under California state law since January 1st, 1994.{{cite web|title=White Shark FAQ|date=3 June 2024|website=California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)|url=https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/White-Shark#542632337-is-it-legal-to-catch-white-sharks|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803191715/https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/White-Shark#542632337-is-it-legal-to-catch-white-sharks|archive-date=3 August 2024}} Under this law, catching, hunting, pursuit, capturing, and/or killing of great whites in California waters is strictly prohibited up to {{cvt|3|miles|km}} offshore,{{cite web|title=White Shark: Species-at-a-Glance|website=California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)|url=https://marinespecies.wildlife.ca.gov/white-shark/|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803192955/https://marinespecies.wildlife.ca.gov/white-shark/|archive-date=3 August 2024}}{{cite news|author=San Jose Mercury News|title=Great white sharks off the coast of California are safer, at least for now|date=11 September 2018|work=Monterey Herald|url=https://www.montereyherald.com/2013/02/06/great-white-sharks-off-the-coast-of-california-are-safer-at-least-for-now/|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803193836/https://www.montereyherald.com/2013/02/06/great-white-sharks-off-the-coast-of-california-are-safer-at-least-for-now/|archive-date=3 August 2024}} though exceptions exist for great whites caught for scientific research or unintentionally caught as bycatch. In both cases, a special permit is required in order to legally take them.{{cite magazine|last1=Quan|first1=Kristene A.|title=Great White Sharks Are Now Protected under California Law|date=4 March 2013|magazine=TIME|url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/04/great-white-sharks-are-now-protected-under-california-law/|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2024|archive-date=10 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310031957/http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/04/great-white-sharks-are-now-protected-under-california-law/}}

In 2013, great white sharks were added to California's Endangered Species Act. From data collected, the population of great whites in the North Pacific was estimated to be fewer than 340 individuals. Research also reveals these sharks are genetically distinct from other members of their species elsewhere in Africa, Australia, and the east coast of North America, having been isolated from other populations.

A 2014 study estimated the population of great white sharks along the California coastline to be approximately 2,400.{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Lauren |title=Shark numbers not tanking |work=Huntington Beach Wave |publisher=The Orange County Register |date=3 July 2014 |page=12}}{{cite journal |last1=Burgess |first1=George H. |last2=Bruce |first2=Barry D. |last3=Cailliet |first3=Gregor M. |last4=Goldman |first4=Kenneth J. |last5=Grubbs |first5=R. Dean |last6=Lowe |first6=Christopher J. |last7=MacNeil |first7=M. Aaron |last8=Mollet |first8=Henry F. |last9=Weng |first9=Kevin C.|last10=O'Sullivan|first10=John B. |title=A Re-Evaluation of the Size of the White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Population off California, USA |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0098078 |pmid=24932483 |pmc=4059630 |journal=PLoS ONE |date=16 June 2014 |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=e98078 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...998078B|doi-access=free}}

In September 2019, California governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2109 into law, banning the use of shark bait, shark lures, and chumming to attract great whites in California waters, and prohibiting their usage within one nautical mile of any shoreline, pier, or jetty when a great white is visible or known to be present in the area.{{cite news|title=California Assembly Bill 2109 Provides New Protections For White Sharks|date=30 September 2022|website=California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)|

url=https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/california-assembly-bill-2109-signed-into-law-providing-new-protections-for-white-sharks|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803190236/https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/california-assembly-bill-2109-signed-into-law-providing-new-protections-for-white-sharks|archive-date=3 August 2024}}{{cite web|last1=Cohen|first1=Ariana|title=New California law makes it illegal to fish for Great White Sharks|date=6 January 2023|work=KFMB-TV|publisher=CBS|url=https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/california-law-illegal-to-fish-for-great-white-sharks/509-b7f5bc2c-6c88-47a8-9f20-ae7b2c8054f2|url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803190640/https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/california-law-illegal-to-fish-for-great-white-sharks/509-b7f5bc2c-6c88-47a8-9f20-ae7b2c8054f2|archive-date=3 August 2024}}

In June 2015, Massachusetts banned catching, cage diving, feeding, towing decoys, or baiting and chumming for its significant and highly predictable migratory great white population without an appropriate research permit. However, these restrictions apply to only activities within state waters, which extend three miles from shore. Therefore there are over a dozen tour operators offering cage diving and some do bait and/or chum.

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• The Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey
• Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo about the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916
• Twelve Days of Terror by Richard Fernicola about the same events
• Chasing Shadows: My Life Tracking the Great White Shark by Greg Skomal

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{{Wikispecies|Carcharodon carcharias}}

• [https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/white-shark White Shark], NOAA Fisheries
• [https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/White-Shark White Shark Information], California Department of Fish and Wildlife
• [https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/white-shark-carcharodon-carcharias-linnaeus-1758/ White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758)], Australian Museum
• [https://www.atlanticwhiteshark.org/ Atlantic White Shark Conservancy]
• [https://whitesharkconservationtrust.org.nz/ White Shark Conservation Trust], New Zealand

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Category:Apex predators

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Category:Carcharodon

Category:Cosmopolitan fish

Category:Critically endangered biota of Europe

Category:Extant Miocene first appearances

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Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus