Great White Sharks: Cold-Blooded Murderers?

Great White Sharks often suffer a terrible public relations image: Being the largest shark in existence, its menacing rows of razor sharp teeth, plus the murderous image generated as a result of the series of movies Jaws( from a story about a maniacal, oversized great white terrorizing humans, written by Peter Benchley), Great White sharks have often been held as icons of nightmarish attacks on human beings.

How much, indeed, of this bad reputation is warranted?

In order to understand the nature of Great White attacks, it is imperative for us to understand the natural diet of the great white, since the shark's diet would be in direct relation to its prey.

A standard Great White's diet will consist of seals, sea lions, fish and whale carcasses (and the occasional baby whale).

The truth is, Great White sharks tend to hunt prey that is blubber-rich, and humans simply do not have enough fat mass to sustain a shark's insatiable need for fat-rich prey.

Humans, as a rule, are definitely not on the Great White's menu. Why then, do Great Whites attack people?

Great White Attacks: Is Man On The Apex Predator's Menu?

The truth is, attacks from Great Whites are rare, although most of the time, any damage inflicted on its human victim is usually catastrophic and likely to be fatal.

In Mediterranean Sea, for example, only 31 confirmed attacks by Greats Whites have been recorded in the last two decades. Given the large body of tourists hogging the beaches, such a statistic is considered to be on the extreme low end.

Very often, the very cause of shark attacks may be due to the shark's curiosity. In the case of the Great White, an attack is often commenced with what is known as a "test bite".

When a Great White first encounters an unknown surface object, its first instinct is often to bite the object, to ascertain whether its edibility. This contact method, however, is often a fatal act for the human being, given the massive power of the Great White's bite.

Very often, surfers may become mistaken for the Great White's favorite meal, seals. When viewed from below, a surfer swimming on the ocean surface resembles that of a seal. Given the ambush nature of the Great White, its first instinct would be to pounce upon a supposed prey. After the first bite, a Great White will most likely abandon the human victim upon realizing that it is not its intended target.

Cases of humans being consumed whole after a Great White attack; most victims who are attacked usually die after losing too much blood from the first attack.

Hence, the myth that Man is found exclusively on the Great White's menu is really unfounded, and that Great Whites are not as indiscriminate in their kills as they are purported to be.