Great White sharks are a large species of shark, as their name suggests, growing from 16 to 36 feet in length and weigh up to 4,000 pounds (BoatTalk). They belong to the Lamnidae family of vertebrates, of the Carchardon genus, species carcharias (Indian). They are streamlined swimmers with a torpedo-shaped body and a pointed snout. They have roughly 3,000 teeth arranged in several rows. The first two rows of teeth are used for grabbing and cutting prey, while the last row of teeth rotate into place when front teeth are broken, worn down, or fall out. The teeth are triangular shaped with serrated edges. The back of the shark is dark grey in color, and the underside is white. The Great White has three main fins: the dorsal fin (on its back), and two pectoral fins (on the sides). The tail is crescent shaped. The Great White can swim as fast as 25 mph.
The Great White is a voracious and efficient predator, feeding on a wide variety of bony fishes such as salmon, hake, halibut, mackerel, and tuna, other sharks, whales, dolphins, sea turtles, sea birds, and marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and sea otters (BoatTalk; Dale). The Great White is the world's largest ocean predator and will even eat dead animals it finds floating on the surface. It can even leap out of the water to catch its prey from below or behind. When searching for prey, the shark will swim along the sea bottom looking for shapes on the surface. If it sees something similar in shape to a seal, it will charge at it at full speed. It rams the prey and inflicts its first bite all in one motion, which stuns and injures the prey. It then backs off and leaves its prey to bleed to death. When it is certain its prey is dead, it returns and begins to feed. Sharks don't chew their food, but rip it into mouth-sized pieces and swallow it whole. A large meal can last a shark for up to two months.
The habitat of the Great White shark is in the shallow wa...