Sharks & Rays
Great White Shark
Carcharodon carcharias
Also known as
Great white, white shark, white pointer
Distribution
Worldwide in sub-polar to tropical waters
Ecosystem/Habitat
Coastal to open ocean
Feeding Habits
Active predator
Taxonomy
Order Lamniformes (mackerel sharks & relatives), Family Lamnidae (mackerel sharks)
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Facebook Twitter Pinterest Google+Great white sharks are an apex predator in the ocean best known for their power, speed and strength. They are the largest predatory fish in the world and are also the only shark that regularly feeds on marine mammals, often hunting whales, seals and sea lions. Their only known predators are certain populations of orcas and humans. White sharks are thought to have evolved 16 million years ago and are descendants from the megalodon shark, the largest shark to have ever existed. White sharks have a nearly global distribution and extended oceanic migrations that allow them to live in almost all coastal to offshore waters. They have even been observed at great depths of up to 1,200 metres! They are adapted to temperate to tropical waters and are a frequent visitor to both Canada’s Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
- American Lobster
- American Plaice
- Arctic Char
- Atlantic Cod
- Atlantic Herring
- Atlantic Mackerel
- Atlantic Puffin
- Atlantic Walrus
- Atlantic Wolffish
- Basking shark
- Beluga Whale
- Blue Shark
- Bowhead Whale
- Bubblegum Coral
- Canary Rockfish
- Capelin
- Chinook Salmon
- Dungeness Crab
- Eulachon
- Fin Whale
- Fjords
- Giant Pacific Octopus
- Great White Shark
- Green Sea Turtle
- Greenland Halibut/Turbot
- Greenland Shark
- Humboldt Squid
- Humpback Whale
- Kelp Forests
- Leatherback Sea Turtle
- Lingcod
- Lion's Mane Jellyfish
- Loggerhead Sea Turtle
- Lophelia Coral
- Narwhal
- North Atlantic Right Whale
- Northern Gannet
- Northern Shrimp
- Orca
- Pacific Herring
- Pilot Whale
- Polar Bear
- Pom-Pom Anemones
- Redfish (Acadian & Deepwater)
- Sea Otter
- Sea Pens
- Sea Strawberry
- Seamounts
- Snow crab
- Sockeye Salmon
- Spiny Dogfish
- Thick-billed Murres
- Thorny Skate
- Tufted Puffin
- Yelloweye Rockfish