by Scottie Westfall

Created on: July 16, 2008

No creature of the sea brings up such feelings of sheer terror more than the Great White Shark. It is seen an unfeeling murderer of the deep that preys upon unsuspecting bathers. In the nineteenth century, the great white was called the "man-eater shark," simply because that is all that people thought it did. However, the great white shark, like many large predators, is misunderstood. It plays a vital role in the eco-system, keeping the numbers of large fish and sea mammals in check. Although it has attacked and killed man, reasons to fear this shark are mostly exaggerated, not the least of which is the portrayal of this fish in the film Jaws.

Great whites are large fish. There are not too many other species of fish that exceed the great white in size. The basking shark and the whale shark are both larger shark species, but both of those species feed on plankton and are not threat at all to humans. The megamouth shark of the deep ocean abysses is roughly the same size as the great white, but it, too, is mainly a plankton eater. It is possible that the Greenland shark might exceed the great white in size, but it may take a while for a consensus to develop about the size relationship between the two species. Currently, the great white is the largest predatory fish in the ocean, but if the Greenland shark is considered larger, then that species will hold the title. Great whites approach 20 feet in length, but most of the larger specimens are generally 16 to 18 feet in length. The typical length is usually 13 to 16 feet. They can weigh as much as 5,000 pounds but are more often seen at half that weight. Regardless of how one looks at it, the great white is a big shark.

It is a big shark that is designed as the perfect predator of large fish and marine mammals. It can enter colder waters than normal sharks, because it is partially warm-blooded. It has the ability to regulate its internal temperature and can go where the seals go. It is slate gray on top, which camouflages the shark from the seals that it stalks from below. It is white on its belly, which is where the shark gets its name. This adaptation allows the shark to stalk prey that has taken refuge on the ocean floor. Looking up from the ocean floor, the white belly of the shark mixes with sunlight, obscuring the shark to that which is beneath it. When hunting seals and sea lions from below, the shark stalks its prey and then rushes at the prey item. It bumps the prey with its nose with such force that it loses

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