The Great White Shark  - Carcharodon carcharias is found in almost all coastal and offshore oceans which have water temperatures between 12 and 24 °C (54 and 75 °F). One of the densest known populations of these sharks is around Dyer Island, Western Cape, South Africa.

The great white shark is known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached or exceeded 6 metres (20 ft). These sharks reach maturity at around 15 years and can have a life span of over 30 years.

The great white shark is arguably the world's largest known extant macropredatory fish and is one of the primary predators of marine mammals. It is also known to prey upon a variety of other marine animals including fish and seabirds.

Great white sharks, like all other sharks, have an extra sense given by the Ampullae of Lorenzini which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals. Every time a living creature moves it generates an electrical field and great whites are so sensitive they can detect half a billionth of a volt. Even heart beats emit a very faint electrical pulse. If close enough, the shark can detect even that faint electrical pulse. Most fish have a less-developed but similar sense using their body's lateral line.

To more successfully hunt fast and agile prey such as sea lions, the great white has adapted to maintain a body temperature warmer than the surrounding water. One of these adaptations is a “rete mirabile” (Latin for "wonderful net"). This close web-like structure of veins and arteries, located along each lateral side of the shark, conserves heat by warming the cooler arterial blood with the venous blood that has been warmed by the working muscles. This keeps certain parts of the body (particularly the stomach) at temperatures up to 14°C (25°F) above that of the surrounding water, while the heart and gills remain at sea-temperature. When conserving energy the core body temperature can drop to match the surroundings. A great white shark's success in raising its core temperature is an example of gigantothermy. Therefore, the great white shark can be considered an endothermic poiklotherm, because its body temperature is not constant but is internally regulated.

This shark's behavior and social structure is not well understood. In South Africa, white sharks have a dominance hierarchy depending on size, sex and squatter's rights - Females dominate males, larger sharks dominate smaller sharks, and residents dominate newcomers.

The great white shark is one of only a few sharks known to regularly lift its head above the sea surface to gaze at other objects such as prey.

The orca is now the great white's only natural predator.

These magnificent sharks are endangered.