Sharks in Australia

This large shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is also known as white shark or white pointer. It's a lamniform shark which you can find in coastal waters of oceans and seas all around the world which water temperature is between 12ºC and 24ºC. An adult great white can reach lengths of up to 6 meters and can weigh up to 2.240 kg. This makes the great white shark the largest predatory fish in the world.

When a female great white shark is pregnant, the eggs develop in the uterus, hatchthere and the little sharks continue to develop until they are born. This is also called ovoviviparity. The great white has a gestation period of 11 months and already in the first month the powerfull jaws of the pups are starting to develop.

The great white shark has quite a reputation when it comes to attacks on human beings, but they do not typically target humans as prey. Many cases of attacks come from test-biting. The shark wants to know what you are and out of curiosity it will "taste" you by biting. When a shark attacks a swimmer of a surfer it approaches from underneath. The silhouette it sees on the surface is almost always mistaken for that of a seal.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a filter feeding shark and it's the largest living fish species. It can row up to 12.2 meter long and can weigh up to 13.6 kg. A whale shark only feeds on plankton. 

Whale sharks inhabit the tropical and warm-temperate waters of the earth. While thought whale sharks we're primarily pelagic they're often seen in coastal regions. A whale shark is capable of diving to around 700 meters deep.Each year in season it's possible to swim with whale sharks on Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.

Whale sharks reach sexual maturity at around 30 years and can live up to a 100 years. Whale shark female are also ovoviviparous. The eggs hatch inside the womb and a female gives birth to live young which are 40 to 60 cm long.