By Amanda Kelley
Giant sharks have been the subject of horror movies for decades, and tall tales for centuries before that. Here’s the facts on the very real, very large sharks swimming in our seas.
5. Great Hammerhead Shark – Sphyrna mokarran
Average weight: ~500 lbs
Equivalent to: about 2 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson(s)
The largest of the eight hammerhead species, these fellas measure between 10 and 13 feet on average, but the largest fish on record measured 20 feet long! Pretty great, yeah?
4. Greenland Shark – Somniosus microcephalus
Average weight: ~880 lbs
Equivalent to: about 110 house cats (of a healthy weight)
This slow-moving fish is like the giant lazy grandpa of sharks. Native to the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, Greenland sharks typically measure between 8 and 15 feet, but some observations (not scientific measurements) report sightings of up to 21 feet.
3. Great White Shark – Carcharodon carcharias
Average weight: ~2,000 lbs
Equivalent to: about 1.5 Smart Cars
Time for our favorite toothy friend! While most great whites range from 11 to 16 feet as adults, the largest accurately measured fish was caught in 1988, at 20 feet! To give you an appreciation for just how large that is, here is a video from 2015 of Deep Blue, a female great white who is estimated to be about 20 feet long:
2. Basking Shark – Cetorhinus maximus
Average weight: 4,900 lbs
Equivalent to: about 15 Shaquille O’Neal(s)
Next time someone accuses you of having a big mouth, be sure to direct them to a basking shark. These giant filter-feeders (That’s right! A shark that only eats plankton, who knew?) grow up to 29 feet on average!! And that’s just for your typical basking sharks – the largest specimen ever measured was 40 feet long! Good thing they only filter feed or else we might be in some trouble…
1. Whale Shark – Rhincodon typus
Average weight: 41,000 lbs
Equivalent to: about 1.25 fully-loaded school buses
Whale sharks are the largest living sharks on earth (the prehistoric Megalodon is not included here because it is no longer with us … R.I.P). Whale sharks are filter-feeders like their cousins, the basking sharks, and the average adult measures 18-32.5 feet in length. The largest individual caught on record was 41.5 feet in length, and weighed 28 tons!!!!
4 out of the 5 species of sharks that I’ve mentioned here are threatened or endangered – if you’re interested in learning about what you can do to help these big beauties stay big and beautiful, check out these shark conservation organizations:
- http://www.bite-back.com/
- http://www.projectaware.org/
- http://www.sharktrust.org/en/shark_conservation
- http://www.sharksavers.org/en/home/
Sources:
- http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-photos/what-biggest-shark-chart-shows-diversity-shark-sizes
- http://sharkopedia.discovery.com/shark-topics/record-breakers-2/#the-top-10-largest-sharks
- http://www.totalprosports.com/2011/08/04/9-biggest-sharks-ever-caught/