14 DAY TRIAL // It is difficult to trigger the sympathy of the audience with a giant conical head, a set of huge razor sharp serrated teeth, a carnivorous appetite, a malicious grin and a reputation of "man-eater". The slightest encounter with people is enough to fill the headlines.
1.With a strong rocket-like body, up to 7.2 m (24 ft) long and up to 3.4 tons heavy, the great white shark is the world's largest predator fish (even at 6.4 m (213 ft) long, it weighs 2 tons). The endangered species is protected in the waters of South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Namibia and US; also in the Mediterranean Sea. Only the orca and sperm whale match the white shark amongst ocean's predators. Paradoxically, the most feared and dangerous shark, the great white, is also among the most protected and also the most threatened.
2.The white shark hunts from fish (including other sharks) to seals and dolphins, squids, turtles and sea birds, but as it ages, it turns bigger and slower, preferring seals, penguins and cadavers (especially whales).
3.For hunting, sharks have keen sight, olfaction and hearing (they pick up sounds from 2 km (1.2 mi) away). The lateral line helps them detect vibrations produced by a struggle in the water, like a speared fish (that's why if fishing with an arbalet, pull out of the water the speared fish as quick as possible. They also have the ampullae of Lorenzini, small channels located around the nostrils that enable sharks to detect weak electric fields by the beating heart, gills or swimming muscles of possible prey animals. This enables them to feel Earth's magnetic field (knowing where south and north are located).
4.Despite its name, the great white shark is not quite white. The dorsal part is dark-gray and the ventral part is white, the two colors meeting on an irregular line that forms a pattern specific for each individual (like giraffe's spots). This coloration makes the shark hard to see from a distance when in the water.
5.The fusiform body and the triangular back curbed fins enable sharks to slide in the water like torpedoes. A strange issue is the white shark's tail: in most sharks is asymmetrical, while in this case is symmetrical. The pectoral fins help the shark rise up and if the shark swims too slow, it sinks even if its floating ability is ensured by the leaver, which makes for 25% of the shark's weight. Like many shark species, the great white has to swim continuously so that oxygen rich water enters into its gills through its mouth. That's why the sharks always display that freezing grin.
6.What makes the great white shark and its relatives from the Lamnidae family (another two species of mako shark, porbeagle shark and salmon shark) different is their circulatory system. The blood temperature of these sharks is 3-5' C higher than that of the water. This accelerates digestion and increases muscular power and stamina. For example, mako sharks, which feed on rapid oceanic fish like tuna (which have a similar circulatory system) on short bursts can reach 100 km (62 mi) per hour.
7.Of the existing 368 species of sharks, only 20 are dangerous to humans. Of them, four account for almost 60-70 shark attacks registered annually worldwide. Up to 11 of these attacks are deadly. In 2006, 62 people were attacked and 4 died. 38 attacks occurred in US, 7 in Australia, 4 in South Africa, 3 in Brazil, 2 in the Bahamas and one for each of the following: Fiji, Guam, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, La Reunion, Spain and Tonga. The four deadly attacks occurred in Australia, Brazil, La Reunion and Tonga.
The culprit species are the bull shark, tiger shark, white-tipped shark and the white shark. Surprisingly, 55 to 80% of the victims of the attack of a great white survive. The great white sharks can suddenly attack swimmers, surfers or boats, sinking them, but humans do not seem to represent their favorite dish. The white sharks bite once strongly and release the victim, inflicting deep wounds without any tear. This is a sophisticated hunting method: if the prey is not killed by this first attack/bite, the shark lets it escape to the surface just to inflict a second attack when the victim is already debilitated by the massive bleeding.
Why does the great shark proceed like this? It is believed because of the eyes. Unlike other sharks, this species does not have an eye protective nictitante membrane. The huge shark rotates its eyes in the socket when chocking with the prey. The eyes could be exposed to the blow of a seal claw, that's why after inflicting the deadly strike, the shark releases its prey.
Because of this behavior, many human victims could be saved. This was possible also because the white shark does not hit feeding frenzy when smelling blood. This first bite also allows the shark to taste its victim. The white shark prefers fat preys, like seals, that provide the huge amount of energy necessary by its active lifestyle in cold waters. Human flesh is not fatty, that's why most white shark attacks end after the fist bite, but what consequences can have such a taste bite on humans!
Research proved that the killer damage seems to be due rather to razor-sharp saw-like teeth and not the sheer bite force. When applying the bite, the shark often shakes the prey from side to side to produce a sawing action. After that, the shark lets the victim bleed to death. Even so, the great white remains the most dangerous shark due to its size, massiveness and speed.
Many people living on the sea relate that the creature does not have a tooth for human flesh. These sharks seem to rather avoid people. Jacques-Ives Cousteau counted a meeting with a great white shark off Cabo Verde Islands, when the beast ran away rapidly leaving behind a cloud of feces...
The species got is current negative image with the novel and movie "Jaws" of the '70s. That triggered a trophy hunting, and soon a white shark tooth cost $ 1,000 and a complete set $ 20,000. But no doubt about it, most great white sharks are killed by the fishing nets and by the hunt for shark fins used in making that infamous Chinese soup.
8.Today, the largest shark is the great white. But Procarcharodon megaladon, a relative of the great white, that lived 65 million years ago, was 13 m (44 ft) long! It could have hunted whales...