The movie Jaws was first released 50 years ago in the summer of 1975. In the film, a vicious shark terrorizes a New England town by snatching swimmers from the ocean. Although the town’s mayor initially denied that a man-eating shark was to blame, he eventually dispatched a team of three hunters to slay the beast.
The shark in Jaws was ugly, aggressive, and unpredictable. It instilled fear in many people towards the ocean and sharks. But many marine researchers say it made them love sharks even more.
“Jaws is my favorite film,” says Steve Kessel, a marine ecologist and the director of marine research at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. “I bugged and bugged my mum to let me watch Jaws, and from that point on it was sharks.”
That Jaws is a go-to favorite for marine researchers may not seem surprising. But here are 10 other intriguing facts about White Sharks:
1. White Sharks had a Name Change
During the Jaws era, the Carcharodon carcharias was known as the great white shark. Taxonomists had a problem with this because there wasn’t a lesser white shark, so there was no need to use a distinguishing word like ‘great.’ Now it’s known as the white shark.
“It’s happened in the last five years,” Kessel says.
The Shark Lab, a research institute at California State University, Long Beach, has been studying shark behavior along the southern California coast. They’ve found that sharks come close to swimmers and surfers on a regular basis — people just don’t realize it is happening.
“Almost all the time, a shark is within 50 meters (~160 feet) of a swimmer,” Kessel says. “The interaction rates are so high. If they were dangerous, there would be someone taken every day.”
Still, people should be cautious.
“They are large, predatory animals, and you need to respect them. Listen to the lifeguards. Don’t chase after them, don’t harass them,” Kessel says.
3. Sharks are Far Older than Humans
Hominins first came on the scene about six million years ago. Sharks are far older.
“The sharks that are in the oceans today, those species are from about 250 million years ago,” Kessel says.
4. White Sharks aren’t Cold Blooded
“They are closer to warm-blooded,” Kessel says. “It gives them an acceleration advantage over other species because their muscles are already warm and ready to go.”
5. White Sharks are Cautious Hunters
The beast in Jaws was willing to bite onto anything — boats, rafts, and to its demise (spoiler alert) a scuba tank. In real life, white sharks won’t make a move until they are certain they can be successful. Even then, they tend to maim their prey, not fight it to the death.
“They don’t want to be injured, so they will hit [their prey] and then let them bleed to death or they’ll wait until [the prey is] weak,” Kessel says.
Read More: Are Great White Sharks Attacking 100-Foot-Long Blue Whales?
6. White Sharks are Big Babies
White shark pups are about four feet long at birth. “White sharks are pretty big when they are born, relative to other species,” Kessel says.
Their size helps deter other sharks who aren’t afraid to snack on one of their own. “There’s not a ton of things that will eat them at that size, ”Kessel says.
7. White Sharks Live Long
In the past, researchers believed that white sharks lived as long as 50 years. More recent estimates are putting their lifespans between 80 and 100 years, Kessel says.
8. White Sharks are Late Bloomers
Their long lifespans mean that white sharks have ample time to grow up. They can grow in excess of 20 feet, and reaching their full size can take decades, Kessel says.
In 2024, a 30-year-old female shark washed up on a Florida beach. Scientists conducted an autopsy and found that although the shark was already 15 feet long, she was still not yet reproductively mature, but may have been ready in the coming years had she lived.
9. White Sharks Constantly Grow Teeth
Sharks have seven rows of teeth, and new ones are always growing.
“When one falls out, there is one behind to take its place,” Kessel says. “They do that because they don’t have as strong of a bite as you would think. They don’t rely on the strength of the bite but the sharpness.”
10. White Sharks are Global
Some shark species are only found in certain waters. However, white sharks have been seen all around the world.
“From tropical all the way to cool waters, they’ve found them as far as Scotland,” Kessel says.
Read More: Great White Sharks Band Together to Prey on Whales
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
NOAA. White Shark
Nature. Overview of Hominin Evolution
NOAA. Necropsy Offers Rare Opportunity to Study White Shark Biology
Emilie Lucchesi has written for some of the country's largest newspapers, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and an MA from DePaul University. She also holds a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Illinois-Chicago with an emphasis on media framing, message construction and stigma communication. Emilie has authored three nonfiction books. Her third, A Light in the Dark: Surviving More Than Ted Bundy, releases October 3, 2023, from Chicago Review Press and is co-authored with survivor Kathy Kleiner Rubin.
