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White shark
NOT ON EXHIBIT
At the Aquarium
Natural History
The white shark is one of nature’s premier predators. It’s so well designed that it’s been around for more than 11 million years, with its immediate ancestors dating back to more than 60 million years ago.Like all sharks, the white shark is equipped with two major food-finding senses: its sense of smell and its ability to detect electrical impulses. A shark smells with the aid of tiny structures called “lamellae,” located in two nostrils near the tip of its snout. The lamellae are so sensitive that they can detect one drop of blood in 25 gallons of water. To hunt prey, a shark also depends on its “ampullae of Lorenzini,” a series of jelly-filled canals on its snout that sense electrical impulses. Combined with the sense of smell, this “force-field” detector makes the white shark an efficient predator.
Conservation
For many years, the white shark was hunted for trophies and simply out of fear. Only recently has concern for these top predators been aroused. As a vital member of its habitat, and one that helps keep its ecosystem in balance, the white shark now enjoys protected status in many areas of the world.Unfortunately the public’s impression of these animals often comes mainly from frightful stories and lurid pictures. Many photographic and diving-adventure businesses have formed around the white shark, primarily in South Africa, southern Australia and California. Although these events have drawbacks, many people hope that such increased exposure to the white shark will help foster public awareness about its welfare.
Cool Facts
White sharks have been known to jump completely out of the water, usually when racing upwards from deep water to catch a fast-moving meal, like a seal or sea lion.
At any one time, a white shark has more than 3,000 serrated, razor-sharp teeth arranged in rows. The first two rows are used to grab and rip out a mouth-sized piece of flesh, which is then swallowed whole—the white shark doesn’t chew its food. The teeth in the remaining rows rotate into use as mature teeth are lost during feeding.
Like all sharks, the white shark has no bones; its skeleton is made of cartilage, the same tissue that gives shape to our ears and nose.
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Animal Facts
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ON EXHIBIT:
Outer Bay
- Scientific Name:
Carcharodon carcharias
- Habitat:
Open Waters
- Animal Type:
Fishes
- Diet:
fishes, other sharks, skates, stingrays, sea turtles, molluscs, crustaceans, seabirds, and even dead whales. Larger white sharks dine mostly on pinnipeds—seals and sea lions—and occasionally on small cetaceans such as dolphins and porpoises.
- Size:
pups to 3.6 feet (1.1 m) and adults to 21.5 feet (6.5 m), with females generally larger than males.
- Range:
continental shelf waters of temperate seas and oceans, sometimes venturing into the tropical zones, and can be found anywhere from the surface to depths to 4,200 feet (1,280 m).
- Relatives:
mako, porbeagles and salmon sharks; Family: Lamnidae
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