Great White Sharks Research Paper

Great White Sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, are the largest known predatory fish in the sea! The Great White belongs to the Family Lamnidae and are also known as the white pointer or the white death. The name "White Shark" is thought to have come from its universal all-white belly. According to the fossil record, the modern species have been around since roughly 18–12 million years ago. The most amazing hunters armed with strong muscles, good eyesight, and a keen sense of smell. According to (E. O. Wilson) "...rightfully been called a top carnivore, a killing machine, the last free predator of man—the most frightening animal on earth." First, Great white sharks have a conical snout, black eyes, a nearly equal-lobed tail fin, and that is supported on each side by a keel. Great white sharks are a gray and blue color on their dorsal fin. This is to help white sharks blend in with the bottom of the ocean when viewed from up top. The ventral, or belly, is white. This makes it hard to see sharks from above, especially when light shines in around them. The white shark has five pair of gill slits located in front of the broad pectoral fin. Great whites also have a

They were long thought to be primarily coastal inhabitants, but from recent satellite tracking studies, we now know that they migrate long distances and they sometimes cross an entire ocean basins. Near the California coast, they can be found hunting elephant seals. On the western cape of South Africa, they can be found hunting for seals from May to September. In North American waters, great white sharks travel from the Newfoundland to Florida. They also travel from Aleutian Islands, Alaska to southern Mexico. They are found in all cold temperate and tropical waters, from 60°N latitude to 60°S latitude. Nowhere in its range is the white shark very common, and in fact, they are becoming increasingly