Although it has actually been identified in only a small number of attacks on humans, the great white shark is the most well known and the most feared of all of the sharks. With its white belly, its slate gray or black back, its long conical snout and broad, triangular and serrated teeth, it is the largest of the flesh eating sharks. It can cruise slowly for long distances and move its huge muscular body with incredible speed in order to capture prey.

Like the blue sharks, the great white maintains a body temperature higher than the surrounding water temperature. In order to do this, it must consume large quantities of fatty foods and it is no wonder that the great white’s preferred food source is seals and sea lions. This may be another reason for attacks recorded on humans. A human on a surfboard in a wet suit may look a great deal like a seal or a sea lion to a great white shark. Most scientists agree that man is not a preferred food source for these sharks and they frequently spit out a human after the first bite!

The great white is located in all of the world's oceans, but it is most often found off the coast of southern Africa, southern and western Australia and in the temperate cool waters off North America. It is not surprising that little is actually known about the migratory habits of the great white shark since few are ever captured, tagged, released and re-captured, the primary way in which information is gathered on migration.