Great White Shark: Carcharodon carcharias
Great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) weigh up to 7,040 pounds, which equates to over three and one half tons! Great white sharks usually feed on fish (especially tuna), squid, other sharks, dolphins, whales, seals, elephant seals, and sea lions. They also feed on the carcasses of whale sharks and the fat-rich blubber in the carcasses of large whales. One 1982 study showed that a fifteen-foot great white shark could live for about forty-five days on sixty-six pounds of whale blubber. Other sharks four to seven feet long have been found whole in the bellies of white sharks. A sea lion weighing 100 pounds was found in a great white shark taken off California, and one caught in Florida waters had in it two sharks, each of which was six to seven feet long. They also eat sea turtles, easily crunching through the shells. Seals cleanly bitten in two have been found in their stomachs. Great white sharks are related to the prehistoric Megalodon shark. The Megalodon was living at the time of the dinosaurs, and did not become extinct, but rather survived. Their offspring evolved into the present day Great White Shark.
