How many of you know where do great white sharks live? In this article I’ll be displaying some of the essential facts about the great white sharks widespread distribution and habitat. Great white sharks are the predatory fish and they emerge during the era of mid-Miocene. The most primitive known fossils of these fish date back to some 16 million ago. Nonetheless, the phylogeny of these types of sharks is still in dispute. The first proposition for the great white sharks shows that it shares few common ancestors with C. megalodon, a prehistoric shark. The resemblance between these two species remains and the mammoth size of both led scientists to suppose that they are interrelated. Now let us know where do great white sharks actually live.
Where Do Great White Sharks Live
Great white sharks inhabit along the coastal and offshore waters where temperature ranges from 12 and 24 °C (54 and 75 °F), with greater strengths are found in Atlantic Northeast and California, (USA), and New Zealand, Chile, Mediterranean, Japan, New South Wales & South Australia (Australia), and South Africa. The greatest strengths are also found in regions like Dyer Island (South Africa) where extensive shark’s research is carried out.
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These fish are regarded as epipelagic fish in that their presence mostly influenced by the availability of rich food sources including sea lions, cetaceans, bony fish species, and fur seals together with other sharks. They are known to live at a depth of about 4,000 feet (1,200 metres). These results challenge the conventional beliefs about great white as being a coastal species.
A recent study reveals out that California great white sharks have migrated to a zone that falls between Hawaii and Baja California to spend at least 3 months before moving back to Baja. During their travel, they tend to move gradually while diving down instantaneously around 900 metres (3,000 feet). However, this much depth is reduced when they arrive back to Baja where short dives of about 300 metres (1,000 feet) are normally found. The duration is approximately is about 10 minutes.
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Some other white sharks have been known to migrate towards southern coast of Australia and returned back within a year. This rebutted established theories that white sharks are coastal territorial predators and leads a new way of probable interaction between sharks population that were formerly thought to be distinct. However, the possible cause of their migrations is still unknown. Some suggests that they travel because of mating and feeding. Great white sharks are capable to cover vast distances of about 20,000 km (12,000 miles) within 8 – 9 months.
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(1) Central California waters offer a wide variety of food for these sharks, and every summer and fall these sharks vigorously feed on nearshore areas. One of the most common feeding grounds of these fish is Farallon Islands which is about 27 miles off San Francisco. These Islands offer a broad range of food including California sea lion, harbor seal, elephant seal, Stellar sea lion, and pinnipeds.
Read More: Are Great White Sharks Endangered?
Great white sharks are also known to feed in Marin Headlands which are the coastal water along central California. These sharks tend to hunt sea lions as far north as Oregon with rare feeding on the Gulf of Alaska while they feed by the side of the offshore during Fall. Female sharks are known to migrate towards southern California to give birth to their offspring.(1)
