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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about great white sharks. There’s always more to learn here, chomp on the subscribe button before leaving! Great white sharks are also known as white sharks, but we think they’re pretty great, so we’re sticking with that name. These animals are probably some of the least understood throughout the world thanks to negative media attention, but did you know these sharks are vulnerable to extinction? Great white sharks are apex predators. They top the food chain throughout the oceans only really needing to fear other, bigger sharks as well as the occasional orca. Human persecution is one of the biggest threats these giants face, and a lot of it has to do with how we’ve been conditioned to perceive them, but there’s a lot to learn if you can drop the pretenses.

Even the name “great white shark” can be kind of confusing. They’re not exactly white, more like, dark grey, or light grey, or slightly brownish... That’s only half true, though. The name white shark is thought to come from their consistent white bellies. Though their dorsal colorations may differ, every great white shark has a great white belly. This is another example of countershading, a phenomenon we’ve discussed previously, but put simply here means camouflage in the ocean environment. From above, the dark colors of great white sharks blend in with the dark waters below. Great white sharks use their colors to their advantage in order to prey on their favorite meals: seals, sea lions, and dolphins. They also eat whale carcasses, but they don’t really need to worry about camouflage for something like that. Younger great white sharks may also eat fish and some have been known to eat turtles, too. Unlike most fish who have a body temperature based on the water surrounding them, great white sharks are actually able to produce their own body heat. This ability may have developed in great white sharks so they could keep up with their quick moving prey.

Due to their rarity, observations of great white shark births are difficult to come by, however, we do know that these sharks give birth to live young. Female great white sharks may gestate for about a year with her pups growing to lengths of about three feet at birth. Plus, there might be up to ten or more babies in a litter. Dang mama, that is a whole other level of fierceness. The babies are on their own from birth, and it takes more than a decade for them to reach reproductive maturity. It’s estimated that great white sharks can live to be more than four decades old, though some claims put them at almost double that.

Great white sharks are some of the biggest sharks living in our oceans today. They are found in temperate and tropical waters, and though they are often encountered closer to the coast, they are able to cross vast expanses of deep ocean. The ladies top the size charts and can reach twenty feet (6.1 meters) in length though on average great white sharks are about twelve feet (3.6 meters) long. And even with all that bulk, they’re able to breach. Breaching refers to an animal’s ability to break through the surface of the ocean, and great whites are able to do this completely!

For more facts on great white sharks, check out the links in the description! There’s still lots more to learn, so be search to check them out, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!