From their bad reputation to their intelligence, and curiosity, here are 11 amazing facts about
great white sharks.
11.
They go through over 1,000 teeth
At any time in their life, a great white shark can have up to 300 teeth, which are arranged
in seven rows.
Each tooth is pointed, razor-sharp, and up to three inches long.
The teeth aren’t strong, however, and they come out pretty easily.
In order to reuse the calcium, the shark will swallow the teeth that fall out as often as
possible.
When a great white loses a tooth, the rest of its teeth move forward to fill in the space,
which is why you’ll never see a gap.
Within a day, the space at the back of the shark’s mouth is filled with a new tooth.
That’s how, in their entire lifetime, a great white can go through over 1,000 teeth.
Despite regular tooth loss, great whites do not experience tooth decay.
Their teeth are coated in an acid-resistant chemical and are very hard.
This gives them their nice, pearly white smile!
10.
They can live over 100 years
The ocean’s most feared predator lives for a long time.
Until 2017, the generally accepted estimated lifespan of the great white shark was 70 years.
According to a National Geographic article published last year, however, a new and more
accurate method of measuring the ages of sharks shows that many shark species may live decades
longer than previously thought.
Traditionally, scientists have determined a shark’s age by counting the growth rings
on its vertebrae.
Recently, something called carbon bomb dating emerged as a more reliable method.
Great whites are among the several species of sharks that are now thought to be able
to live much longer than originally believed - sometimes up to 1oo years!!
But so far, we still don’t know their true lifespan.
And now for number 9.
But first if you are new here,welcome and be sure to subscribe and join the origins
Explained family!!
9.
They have very strong senses
Great whites have 6 highly refined senses of hearing, touch, taste, sight, smell, and
electromagnetism which I’ll tell you more about in a bit.
While sharks have had millions of years to develop these senses, the sense of smell of
a great white, is exceptional!
Smithsonian Ocean reports that a great white can smell a single drop of blood floating
in 10 billion drops of water.
Scientists believe a great white can smell a tiny quantity of blood from up to 3 miles
away.
Their nostrils on the underside of the snout are connected to an organ called the olfactory
bulb.
It is the largest of any shark!!
They also have a lateral line which helps them perceive vibrations in the water.
Sharks can detect potential prey from about 820 feet (250 meters) away.
Another very interesting fact is that live sharks are repelled by dead ones.
When a shark dies, it gives off a chemical that other sharks can detect and they will
stop whatever they are doing and start moving in the opposite direction.
Studies and documentaries aired during Shark Week showed that great whites are no different
and a dead great white found washed up on shore was removed immediately so that scientists
could continue their study.
All great whites in the area they had been focussing on were all gone.
This is not only an amazing survival mechanism to help sharks stay away from danger, but
it can also be an effective repellant that could safely protect divers, surfers, and
swimmers so we could all live in peace.
Chemical engineers and marine biologists are concentrating extracts of dead sharks and
so far, it has been very successful.
8.
Largest predatory fish
Although great whites are not the largest shark species, (that would be the whale shark),
they carry the distinction of being the largest known predatory fish on Earth.
They eat marine mammals that weigh several hundred pounds or even larger on a regular
basis.
These giants range in length from 11 feet to the biggest ones reaching 22 feet!
They can weigh between 1,145 and 5,000 pounds.
Females are usually larger than males.
On average, females grow around 15-16 feet long, while males usually reach somewhere
between 11 and 13 feet.
As a general comparison, a great white shark is typically three times the size of an adult
human.
But they look a lot bigger and stronger in the water!!
7.
They have a 6th sense
Despite their remarkable sense of smell, and ability to detect chemicals, it’s not usually
the primary hunting tool of a great white shark.
Instead they find food using electroreception.
They are extremely sensitive to electric fields and can detect a charge from a single flashlight
battery connected to electrodes 16,000 km apart.
Great white sharks will react to charges of one millionth of a volt in water.
The sensory organs of sharks are made up of ampullae of Lorenzini.
Many marine species have this including sharks, rays and others.
In great whites, the location of the ampullae of Lorenzini can be identified by the dark
spots on its face.
These are the pores that lead to the organs, which are filled with a jelly-like substance.
Ampullae of Lorenzini enable great whites to detect electromagnetic fields emitted by
all living creatures when they move.
This is why shark experts tell you to hit a shark in the nose if they get too close
or if you feel threatened.
They get a sensory overload if you touch them on their snout with your hand or with a rod
so you will often see photographers and underwater camera people guiding them away in a gentle
manner.
6.
They roll their eyes
To protect their eyes from getting damaged, great whites roll them into the back of their
head whenever they’re attacking.
Their eyes don’t have protective membranes or eyelids; therefore, great whites can’t
close their eyes.
Instead, they roll them back, and are unable to see their prey while attacking.
Although the great white is considered the ocean’s most vicious predator, they oftentimes
don’t emerge from a confrontation unscathed.
Most of the time, their bodily wounds heal, but an eye injury could cause permanent blindness.
Therefore, rolling their eyes into the back of their head provides the great white with
necessary protection.
Surprisingly, their position of apex predator of the sea could be changing as more and more
great whites are getting attacked and killed by orcas.
5.
They must move constantly
Great white sharks breathe using a process called ram ventilation.
Water “rams” into their mouth as they swim and exits through the gills, extracting
the necessary oxygen.
If a great white stops moving, it will therefore stop breathing and die.
The requirement to constantly move is, perhaps, one of the great white’s weaknesses.
Other marine animals who are aware of this need, such as killer whales, will hold a great
white still to kill it.
Having to swim non-stop is also a reason that great white sharks cannot be kept in captivity.
They often become restless when they have limited space, and this restlessness can lead
to death.
Great whites are able to remain on the go while they’re asleep because their movement
is regulated by their spinal cords, rather than their brains.
If sharks sleep at all which is a whole other debate.
To learn more be sure to check out the video on Most Fascinating Shark Behavior when you
finish this one!!
4.
They migrate great distances
These large sharks are highly migratory.
Besides having to swim constantly to stay alive, great white sharks travel great distances
for seasonal food, for their young and sometimes to congregate in the middle of nowhere for
no known reason.
Northeastern Pacific Great Whites will feed on elephant seals along the California coast
for about 6 months, then in December, the sharks swim to a meeting spot halfway to Hawaii
and satellite images show an oceanic desert.
So why are they meeting there??
They dive down nearly 1,500 feet (450 meters) several times a day.
They have a whole secret life we know nothing about.
The longest recorded migration of any fish was a great white shark’s journey from South
Africa to Australia.
Others have been known to travel lesser but still impressive distances, including from
the Hawaiian islands to California.
Over nine months, one great white that was being tracked by scientists swam a total of
12,400 miles - an average of 45 miles per day.
3.
Bad Reputation
According to the International Shark Attack file, great white sharks are responsible for
the most attacks on humans.
In the past 400 years, the species has reportedly attacked 314 humans supposedly without provocation.
80 of the attacks were fatal.
However, great whites are extremely curious animals and are attracted to splashing and
noise.
The problem is that they will often take exploratory bites to figure out what something is and
due to their extremely large size, the exploratory bite is enough to be fatal.
Jaws and public hysteria has given us an almost irrational fear of sharks.
Many scientists believe that the great white shark has been unfairly vilified because we
just don’t understand them, and a lot of people are just scared of the ocean in general,
and what might be lurking below!!
However, you are more likely to suffer from a dog bite or get struck by lightning than
to fall victim to a shark attack.
In fact, considering the waters people tend to swim in, great whites could arguably attack
humans much more often than they actually do, suggesting that we are not appealing as
food.
Believe it or not, we humans are a much bigger threat to these sharks than they are to us,
since they are often caught as accidental catch or targeted fisheries because of their
highly valued jaws and fins.
2.
They aren’t picky eaters
Some animal species have a reputation for being willing to eat pretty much anything,
and the great white shark is one of them.
They prefer tuna, dolphins, whales, seals, sea turtles, and seabirds, but will eat fish,
including other sharks.
Sometimes, great whites even eat sea snakes and crocodiles.
Great whites also scavenge from time to time by relying on their strong sense of smell
to find “fast food” - creatures that have died and are floating in the ocean.
This is why they are so important to the ecosystem.
They love greasy food, as well.
Researcher Peter Klimley discovered this by hanging pig, seal, and sheep carcasses in
waters known to be inhabited by great whites.
While the high-fat pig and seal carcasses were popular choices for feasting, the sharks
showed little to no interest in the leaner sheep meat.
This is good news for us humans, who would be a poor meal choice for great whites due
to our low fat content compared to many other species available for their indulgence.
Human trash, boat parts, and other non-edible objects have also been found among the contents
of their stomachs.
Great whites feed by tearing their food into chunks and swallowing the chunks whole, leaving
us to wonder if they even bother to taste their prey.
Well, fatty food is tasty!
In just one meal, great whites consume up to a quarter of their body weight.
They can go weeks without eating afterward, much like some of nature’s fiercest land
predators.
1.
Their behavior is largely a mystery
Scientists and researchers have been unable to fully understand some of the great white
shark’s behaviors.
For one, the mostly solitary animals intermittently reunites with other members of its species.
Great whites meeting and traveling in groups typically avoid dominance battles and conflict.
In certain places, however, distinct hierarchies exist.
For example, great whites living in the waters around Africa follow a specific system: females
dominate over males, larger sharks over smaller ones, and established residents over newcomers.
Others have learned to jump out of the water and slam down on their prey, usually seals,
to stun them and then eat them.
One of the reasons the behavior of great whites is still a topic of mystery is because it’s
not possible to place them in captivity for observation.
Great white sharks have historically failed to survive in closed environments for various
reasons, including the stress caused by limited space.
Past attempts at confining great whites have resulted in sharks refusing to swim, refusing
to eat, and developing dangerous skin conditions.
Every great white shark that has been placed in captivity has either died or been released
within hours or days.
Therefore, almost everything researchers have been learned about the predator, other than
what conditions it can’t survive in, has been gleaned from observing them in their
natural environments.
Scientists continue to learn new things about the great white shark that disprove what we
thought we knew about them until now.
Recent findings suggest that they aren’t as vicious as they’re rumored to be and
they may be more intelligent than we ever thought.
Thanks for watching!!
I hope you learned something new today.
Let me know what you liked the most in the comments below.
Be sure to subscribe, there’s plenty more where this came from!!
See you soon!!