Legendary and fearsome, the great white shark is the Earth’s largest predatory fish and a primary predator of marine mammals. As an adult, the great white shark is up to six meters long and a weighs up to 2,268 kilograms. At such a large size and with a life span of up to 30 years, where do great white sharks live? These aquatic giants live in temperate water throughout the world’s oceans, and are known to frequent water as little as three feet deep.
Worldwide, great white sharks inhabit coastal and offshore waters with temperatures between 12 and 24 degrees Celsius. While found throughout the world, greater numbers of great whites are found in coastal waters of California, the Northeast United States, South Africa, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and the Mediterranean. One of the most dense populations of great white sharks is found around Dyer Island, South Africa. While great white sharks rarely visit cold waters, some have been recorded in waters off Alaska and Canada. Larger great white sharks are known to migrate between continents.
Great white sharks commonly patrol small coastal islands populated by prey such as seals, sea lions and walruses. They also frequent reefs, banks and rocky headlands where deep water is near shore. These sharks range from the surf line to well offshore, and from the water’s surface to a depth of 250 meters. Some great whites have been known to dive to depths of over 1200 meters. The great white shark spends most of its time cruising just above the ocean floor or near the surface.
