Great white shark scientific name :  Carcharodon carcharias

The Great White is between 12-16 feet long, and can grow up to 19-21 feet. There is another main reason why the Great White is the most feared fish for humans.

Great White Sharks are a very large species of shark. They are streamlined swimmers, and have a torpedo-shaped body with a pointed snout.

They have about 3000 teeth, arranged in several rows. The first two rows of teeth are used for grabbing and cutting prey, while the teeth in the last rows rotate into place when front teeth are broken, worn down, or fall out. The teeth are triangularly shaped with serrations on the edges.

The back of the shark is a dull grey colour and the underside is coloured white. They have three main fins: the dorsal (on back) and two pectoral fins (on the sides). The tail is crescent shaped. There are five gill slits on Great White Sharks

The Great White reaches maturity about 9 years after it's birth. The growth of The Great White shark is about 25-30 cm per year. The White Shark has litters of about 7-9 pups. The females only reproduce twice in her whole life.

Great White Sharks live in all coastal temperate waters, and have been known to occasionally make dives into the deep water of open oceans. They can be found in water as shallow as three feet deep, and as deep as 1280metres. They can be found on the following coastlines: California to Alaska, the east coast of the USA, most of the Gulf coast, Hawaii, most of South America, South Africa, Australia (except the north coast), New Zealand, Mediterranean Sea, West Africa to Scandinavia, Japan, and the eastern coastline of China to Russia.