--- title: "Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "Up to 4,500 pounds of apex predator, an electric sense tuned to 0.005 microvolts, and the largest fish known to keep parts of its body warmer than the sea." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/great-white-shark-1.webp" published: "2026-09-01" updated: "2026-09-23" --- # Great White Shark (*Carcharodon carcharias*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: Up to 4,500 pounds of apex predator, an electric sense tuned to 0.005 microvolts, and the largest fish known to keep parts of its body warmer than the sea. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Thrash Metal & Speed Metal // Arch Enemy, "Nemesis" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/27sTzAelgljD6Uxp88BqA3) > **Vibe Match**: Melodic death metal that hits hardest with its opening riff, for a shark whose attacks at Seal Island mostly lasted under a minute and came down to a single breach. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Carcharodon carcharias* - **Danger Level**: Deadly - **Conservation Status**: Vulnerable ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: Ampullae of Lorenzini that detect electrical signals as faint as 0.005 microvolts, paired with regional endothermy that keeps key parts of its body warmer than the surrounding ocean. - **Habitat**: Temperate and subtropical waters worldwide, from the surf line to the open ocean and from the surface to depths of over 1,300 meters - **Diet**: Seals, sea lions, elephant seals, dolphins, other sharks and mobulid rays, and scavenged whale carcasses - **Tags**: shark, ocean, apex-predator, electroreception ## Natural History & Behavior ## Two Tons of Muscle, Seven Decades of Growing A great white shark can weigh up to 4,500 pounds and grow to 21 feet long, though it starts life as a pup only about 4 feet long, according to NOAA Fisheries. A 2015 study that counted growth bands in shark vertebrae, checked against radiocarbon left over from nuclear bomb testing, validated age estimates up to 44 years and concluded that white sharks grow more slowly and live far longer than researchers had thought. NOAA now lists the species' lifespan at 70 years or more. ## A Diet That Ends in Seals, Sharks, or a Dead Whale Adult great whites eat seals, sea lions, elephant seals and dolphins, plus other sharks and mobulid rays, and they scavenge whale carcasses. They range through temperate and subtropical waters worldwide, cruising anywhere from the surf line to the open ocean and diving from the surface to more than 1,300 meters down. Large, erect, triangular, serrated teeth do the cutting once the shark closes the distance. ## An Ambush Timed by Sunlight Off Seal Island in South Africa, researchers logged 2,088 natural attacks by white sharks on Cape fur seals between 1997 and 2003. Most strikes lasted under a minute and came down to a single breach aimed at a young seal swimming alone near the surface. Timing decided almost everything: attacks succeeded 55 percent of the time within an hour of sunrise, then failed more often as the sky brightened. Once their success rate fell to around 40 percent, the sharks stopped hunting seals for the day. ## Electric Radar and a Furnace Under the Skin A great white's snout is covered in pores called the ampullae of Lorenzini. They can detect electrical signals as faint as 0.005 microvolts, like the ones a beating heart or working gills give off. > **A fish that runs its own heater** White sharks are the largest fish known to practice regional endothermy, keeping key parts of their bodies warmer than the surrounding ocean instead of matching the water's temperature the way almost every other fish does. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How long do great white sharks live? A long time: NOAA Fisheries lists the great white shark's lifespan at 70 years or more. *(Source: [NOAA Fisheries]())* ### What are the black freckles on a great white shark's snout? They are the ampullae of Lorenzini, pores packed with electricity-sensing cells. Animal Diversity Web reports the shark can detect electrical signals as faint as 0.005 microvolts, faint enough to pick up the electrical field a beating heart or working gills give off. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())* ### Are great white sharks cold-blooded like other fish? Not exactly. A great white is a regional endotherm, keeping certain body parts warmer than the surrounding water instead of matching the ocean's temperature the way most fish do. A study that tracked eight white sharks foraging near a fur seal colony described the species as the largest fish known to have this kind of regional endothermy. *(Source: [Watanabe et al. 2019]())* ## Sources 1. [White Shark. NOAA Fisheries.]() 2. [Carcharodon carcharias (great white shark). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 3. [Carcharodon carcharias. Florida Museum of Natural History, Ichthyology.]() 4. [martin et al. (2005). predatory behaviour of white sharks ( carcharodon carcharias ) at seal island, south africa. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.]() 5. [Watanabe et al. (2019). Swimming strategies and energetics of endothermic white sharks during foraging. Journal of Experimental Biology.]() 6. [Natanson & Skomal (2015). Age and growth of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Marine and Freshwater Research.]() *Published September 1, 2026. 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