The white shark is also called the great white shark, and it is a member of the largest living species of mackerel sharks, and one of the most powerful and dangerous predatory sharks in the world.
It plays a starring role as the villain in predatory shark films, and groups of great white sharks are often stationed in temperate coastal waters.
Highly productive (i.e., waters that are abundant in fish and marine mammals), such as off the coasts of the northeastern and western United States, Chile, northern Japan, South Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and
the Mediterranean Sea, some great white sharks may travel alone far out to sea or in tropical waters, but field studies show that most of them return to temperate zones every year.
Description of the great white shark
Great white sharks are huge fish with a torpedo-shaped body.Only the belly of the great white shark is whitish, and the shark has a contrasting pattern of dark blue.
Or gray or brown on its back and sides, and it is a wonderful hunter armed with strong muscles, good eyesight and a strong sense of smell.
Each tooth is designed to cut through flesh and can easily puncture and smash bone.
The largest full-grown great white shark is only 6.4 meters (21 feet) long, and most weigh between 680 and 1,800 kg (1,500 and 4,000 lb).
Most fish are cold-blooded, but the great white shark has a complex circulatory system that preserves the heat generated by the contraction of swimming muscles, and this heat is distributed throughout
the body to warm its critical areas, which gives the great white shark a temperature higher than the ocean water temperature, and this The adaptation, called territorial
expansion (which is a warm-blooded species) allows the animal to be active in water that would otherwise be too cold for other predatory shark species.
Behavior and feeding habits of the great white shark
Newborn great white sharks feed on fish and other sharks, and as they reach puberty their prey includes sea turtles, seals, sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, and small whales.
Prey is usually hunted by an ambush as the shark tries to rush the animal by surprise.
inflicting a sudden and large fatal bite.
This initial impulse is often so powerful that a severe impact may send the prey out of the water or send the shark into the air if it misses the target.
Sharks will retire and wait for the prey to die quickly, leading to the emergence of the terms biting, spitting, and waiting for a way to attack.
White sharks are also Opportunistic animals and will feed on the carcasses of whale and basking sharks, however, they do not feed indiscriminately.
Great white shark attacks on humans
In the most common areas, great white sharks are responsible for numerous unprovoked, and sometimes fatal, attacks on swimmers, divers, surfers, large boats and even small boats.
The great white shark tends to inflict one bite on its human victim and then retreat, however, in In many cases, the shark does not bite again.
And if the victim suffers from a moderate bite, then he may have time to seek safety, however, in cases where a large bite occurs, serious tissue and organ damage may lead to death, and a review of great
white shark attacks off the western United States showed that about 7 in Hundreds of attacks have been fatal, but data from other regions such as
South Africa show fatality rates of more than 20 percent, and fatality rates of up to 60 percent have been recorded from attacks in the waters off Australia.
Many researchers assert that the attacks on humans stem from the shark's curiosity. On the other hand, other authorities claim that these attacks may be
the result of the shark mistaking humans for their natural prey, such as seals and sea lions.
Their natural prey may be scarce.
Social behavior of the great white shark
Little is known about the social behavior and natural history of the great white shark, and there appears to be no clear social structure.
However, there is evidence that some sharks may be territorial and assume dominant hierarchies around feeding areas.
Great white sharks are considered to be solitary.
Quite a lot, but some couples have been seen traveling together and cooperating for long periods of time.
Some individuals may reside within feeding grounds throughout the year while others may leave the feeding area and migrate extensively, for example, some great white
sharks have been tracked off California to Hawaii, and some sharks in South Africa have been tracked to southern Australia and back.
Great white shark reproduction
Mating has not yet been fully documented in great white sharks, but it is assumed to be similar to internal fertilization in most sharks, that is, the male enters the reproductive organ in
the female, courtship behavior, if any, is unknown, and male great white sharks reach maturity Sexual maturity is 3.5 to 4 m (11.5 to 13 ft) at about 10 years of age, while females reach sexual maturity at 4.5 to 5 m (15 to 16 ft) at about 12 to 18 years of age.
Great white sharks are viviparous (i.e. fertilized eggs are kept inside the body), and before birth, the young in the womb may feed on undeveloped eggs and possibly their unborn siblings, and
the group consists of 2 to 10 young, and the length of the newborn young is more than meters (about 3.3 ft), gestation is believed to take about 12 months, and females are presumed to give birth in warm temperate.
Is the great white shark endangered
The great white shark has been classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 1996, and its wide distribution in many ocean areas has made comprehensive
population surveys difficult. Collected by fisheries officials around the world indicate that the species may be at risk of decline, but the great white shark has only been assessed in select regions such as the Mediterranean, where it is considered endangered.
Humans hunt great white sharks for a variety of reasons, as they are good fish as food, and they are caught and sold commercially in many countries, and due
to their impressive size and legendary ferocity they are also highly prized sport fish, and their teeth are often valued as jewelry. That brings thousands of dollars in individual jaws.
Sharks of all kinds are also victims of finning, and the practice of harvesting the lateral, dorsal, and lower fin fins from sharks is carried out by commercial and other fishing operations around the world, although the United States and many other industrialized nations have enacted laws prohibiting many finning practices. Shark, however, great white sharks are still searching for their fins.
In addition, many great white sharks are caught by accident in commercial fishing nets each year, and some sharks die in the nets.
However, survivors may be killed intentionally. for its fins and other parts by commercial fishermen.
The role of the great white shark in marine food chains
As predators in marine food chains, great white sharks have few natural enemies, and while it is true that smaller great white sharks are sometimes
eaten by larger sharks (including other white sharks), they do have Fewer potential enemies as they grow, and adult sharks fear few other animals. However, in at least one documented case an adult killer whale attacked and killed an adult white shark.
The great white shark's deepest enemies are humans.