Great White Shark

When a great white shark is born, along with up to a dozen siblings, it immediately swims away from its mother. Baby sharks are on their own right from the start, and their mother may see them only as prey. At birth the baby shark is about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long already; as it grows it may reach a length three times that.

The pup (which is what a baby shark is called) will live its life at the top of the ocean's food chain. But before it grows larger, the pup must avoid predators bigger than it is—including other great white sharks.

Many baby sharks do not survive their first year.

Young great white sharks eat fish (including other sharks) and rays. As it grows, the shark's favorite prey becomes sea mammals, especially sea lions and seals.

Sharks count on the element of surprise as they hunt. When they see a seal at the surface of the water, sharks will often position themselves underneath the seal.

They swim upward at a fast sprint, bursting out of the water in a leap called a breach, and falling back into the water with the seal in their mouths. Sharks don't chew their food; they rip off chunks of meat and swallow them whole.

After eating a seal or a sea lion the great white shark can last a month or two without another big meal.

Female great white sharks usually bear their first young when they are 12 to 14 years old. And if the pups survive their youth, they, too, become predators at the top of the food chain.
FAST FACTS
The great white shark's scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias.

Adult great white sharks can swim up to speeds of 43 miles (69 kilometers) an hour.

Some great white sharks can weigh more than 4,500 pounds (2,000 kilograms).

Shark attacks on humans are rare. However, the species of shark that tend to be most dangerous to humans include great white sharks, tiger sharks, and bull sharks.

Most shark attacks on humans have occurred in the waters of the United States.

A great white shark's teeth can measure more than 2.5 inches (5.7 centimeters) long.

Of the aggressive, meat-eating sharks, the great white is the largest.

Sharks are cartilaginous fish, which means that their skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone.

Sharks and rays are related; scientists list them together in a group called elasmobranches.

Shark skin is so rough that people have sometimes used it as sandpaper.

Sharks have acute hearing, good eyesight, and a keen sense of smell. They use all of these senses for hunting.

Sharks have been around for some 350 million years.

Shark livers are big, fat, and oily, and help sharks float.