Photo Gallery: Great White Sharks

Eye Level With a Great White

Photograph by Stephen Frink Collection

The Latin name for great white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, literally means "ragged tooth," an understandable moniker.

Great White Breaching

Photograph by Brandon Cole Marine Photography/Alamy

Full breaches like this attack are rare, as they expend so much energy. But in South Africa waters full of baby seals, sharks attack from below with ferocious speed, propelling them out of the water with their catch.

Great White Shark on the Hunt

Photograph by David Fleetham/Alamy

Great white sharks, like this one, use an uncanny sense of smell combined with a unique sensory system that detects bioelectric impulses in the water to find vulnerable prey up to miles away.

Great White Above Fish

Photograph by DLILLC/Corbis

With the tip of its classic dorsal fin protruding through the water's surface, a great white shark swims above a school of fish that are most likely too small for the behemoth to bother chasing down for an afternoon snack.

Great White Shark Up Close

Photograph by Eric Hanauer/Alamy

Despite the widespread fear of these enormous predators, great white shark attacks are rarely fatal. Most of the attacks are "sample bites" from the curious fish as they try to decide whether to go through the effort of a full attack. Luckily, they usually decide against making people their next meal.

Great White Shark Lurks

Photograph by Raul Touzon

Great whites have a dark gray upper body to camouflage them from above and a stark white underbelly to camouflage them from below. That way they can ambush victims from any angle.

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Great White Shark Breaches

Photograph by David Doubilet

Near a seal colony in South Africa, a great white shark breaches, leaping for a decoy being pulled across the surface.