The last Wild Fact of the week was suggested by one of our newest readers, Ryan, and let me tell you, he suggested a great animal. Today we are heading to the chilly ocean waters to learn about the Great White Shark. This is an animal with many names as they are also known as the Great White, White Shark, White Pointer and my personal favourite, White Death. How cool of a nickname is that last one? In my opinion the movie “Jaws” should have been renamed “White Death”. Unfortunately, this movie didn’t do too much good for the reputation of this magnificent shark. Believe it or not, the Great White is not a crazed human killing machine. So let’s find out exactly what Jaws really is.
As you may have guessed from watching the famous movie, the Great White Shark is the largest predatory fish on the planet. These sharks can grow up to 6 m (20′) long and weigh up to 2268 kg (5000 pounds). These incredible fish species are highly adapted predators. They have 300 serrated, triangular teeth organized in several rows throughout their mouth. Yes, the teeth are scary and cool, all at the same time, but I find their sensory skills to be the most fascinating and impressive.
The Great White has an incredible sense of smell which allows them to detect predators from great distances. Not only that but this shark is able to detect small amounts of blood in the water up to 5 km (3 miles) away. You don’t want to get a paper-cut in the ocean! If this wasn’t enough the Great White is also able to detect the electromagnetic fields that surround organisms. All of this means that the sea lions, sea turtles, seals and small toothed whales had better be on the lookout when swimming through shark infested waters.
Although 25-50 percent of the 100 shark attacks per year are at the jaws (no pun intended) of the Great White Shark, they really aren’t out there looking to kill humans. In fact, researchers have found most of these attacks are simply a curious shark taking a sample bite out of their “potential” prey. Once they realize what they just sampled they tend to leave it alone. Granted, I don’t really want to be sampled like an hors d’ouevre but at least this shows that we aren’t on the menu as the main course for the Great White Shark. That has to be a little reassuring, doesn’t it?
Before we go, I had to include a video about the Great White Shark. How could I not, right? Enjoy the video and your weekend. See you on Monday for a Wild Facts Theme Week.
