endangered animals

SIZE:
16-36 feet in length

HABITAT:
Can be found in all coastal temperate waters and has been known to occasionally make dives into the deep water of the open oceans. Can be found in waters as shallow as 3 feet deep, but has also been caught on long line at depths of 1280 meters.

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS.

FOOD:
As juveniles, great whites feed on fish. However, when full-grown, their main source of food becomes marine mammals such as whales, seals, and dolphins. They have also been known to feed on large tuna fish.

REPRODUCTION:
These sharks are Ovoviviparous (egg bearing), they can give birth to 2-14 fully formed pups that can be 5 feet long. All fertilization of the eggs occurs within the female like all sharks. The eggs hatch in the female.

GENERAL INFORMATION:
The Great White is found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world's oceans. They are most commonly found in warm seas but live in oceans as well as some rivers and lakes. Its prey includes a wide variety of bony fishes, salmon, hake, halibut, mackerel and tunas, other sharks, sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals. The Great White can grow to weigh 4,000 pounds. It is the world's largest ocean predator but attacks on humans are rare. The Great White has a white belly, a dark back, and reaches a swimming speed of 25 mph. It can leap out of the water while attacking its prey from below and behind. Sharks are amazing fish that have been around since long before the dinosaurs existed. The Great White is known to live up to 100 years old. Unlike other fish, sharks have no bones; their skeleton is made of cartilage, which is not nearly as hard as bone.

Tom's Thoughts about the great white Shark:
I think the great white is an amazing shark and seems to be doing fairly well; occasional shark attacks occur but nothing to worry about. Every once in a while someone loses a leg or an arm, but, hey who's perfect anyways? In order for the Great White Shark to stay living in high quantity it has to avoid humans that kill sharks. That is the biggest threat to sharks. The star of Jaws! Called "White Pointer" or "White Death" in Australia, this shark is the one most people think of when they hear the word "shark!" A large Great White Shark is capable of eating a person not just biting them. The thought of being eaten alive scares people so much that they become very scared and seem to panic about anything to do with sharks.

Dutch

Written by: Tom

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