Hagfish

Great White Sharks are greatly misinterpreted as vicious man-eaters because of the media, movies, and people’s imaginations, but they are actually large fish who mistake people for seals and other marine life. What is a great white shark? The great white, among the least understood of Earth’s creatures, is an apex predator, meaning that it is at the top of the food chain with no natural predators. This means great whites have their pick of food when it comes to selecting their prey (Klimley 15).

Carcharodon carcharias, better know as the great white shark, have existed as a group for over 350 million years (Long). Its name means “ragged-toothed” (Gorman 10). The largest white shark on record was 21 feet long and weighed 7302 pounds. Its ancestors, now extinct, were three times this size, with teeth that were six inches long (White Shark). Today sharks are represented by over 600 species (Long). Great whites are part of a grouping know as mackerel sharks, a grouping which includes the salmon, porbeagle, and maco shark (MacGregor 46). Unlike the true fishes, sharks do not have internal bone, but instead have a cartilaginous skeleton (Long). This stiff flexible material is found

Much has been made of the infamous jaws of the great white. They have about 3000 teeth arranged in several rows. The first two rows of teeth are used for grabbing and cutting prey, while the teeth in the last rows rotate in place when front teeth are broken, worn down, or fallen out (All About Sharks). Each upper tooth is a marvel of compact engineering with hundreds of tiny serrations. This coupled with their enormous jaw strength enables the great white to cut through just about anything it feels needs cutting. The bottom teeth are not as large as the top, but serve the purpose of skewing the shark’s prey, holding it in place for the upper teeth to remove as much flesh from the victim as possible (Klimley 89). A white can tell the relative fat content of an animal by first mouthing it gently; if the tensile resistance associated with blubber is revealed, the shark goes for a full bite. If not it will save its energy for a more nutritious meal.

Hunting occurs around the clock. Great whites are clearly relentless, and preliminary data suggests they may also be crafty (Martin 60). Far from being the mindless killing machines of Jaws fame, great whites observe social customs and rituals and appear to be particular about what they eat (Martin 57). Sharks rarely ever eat humans are solitary animals. They either travel alone or in groups of two (All About Sharks). Great white sharks are ovoviviparous, which means that they hold eggs inside of their bodies until the young are ready to hatch. The babies, or pups, are born alive, fully formed and ready to hunt for food. White shark pups may be five feet long at birth and have a full set of teeth (White Sharks). The female may only reproduce twice in her whole life. Media sensationalism and widespread ignorance has given the great white shark a bad rap. Although the species is responsible for an average of two to three non-fatal attacks on swimmers, surfers, and divers each year, its role as a menace is exaggerated. More people are killed in the United States each year by dogs then have by great whites in the last 100 years. Scientific study shows the population of great white sharks is low, with perhaps fewer than 100 adult animals in California’s waters (Long). What could kill an animal with no natural predators? The answer is simple, fishing lines. “A fisherman had set out a longline to catch snapper, and a female [great white] got caught in it. She got hooked, and it trying to get away, she wrapped herself up in the rope. When it came taut, she couldn’t move. She drowned. Like many sharks, she had to keep moving to flush oxygen-rich water over her gills,” explains John Kessing, chief scientist (Gorman 14).

Great whites are predatory animals that begin life by feeding on fish, rays, and other sharks, and as they grow, switch to feeding on marine mammals and scavenging on large animal carcasses. Their first mammalian prey are usually the small harbor seals, but as the shark increases in size, they become large enough to eat sea lions, elephant seals, and small toothed whales (Long). Great whites are picky eaters and their favorite prey are pin

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