298 Shark and Company 



We know today that the Goblin shark is a hving representative of a 

 shark that was presumed to have become extinct some 70 miUion years 

 ago, and whose fossil remains have been found throughout the world. 

 But we know little more than that. Only one species of Goblin (Scapano- 

 rhynchus oivstojii Jordan, 1898) has been found in very deep waters 

 off Japan, Portugal, and India. Its greatest known length is about 14 feet. 



Family I suridae— Mackerel Sharks, Mako Sharks, 

 Great White Shark 



The sharks known commonly as Makos and Mackerel sharks are 

 included in this family of large, stout-bodied species, which are usually 

 classed in three genern—Lanma, Isiirus, and Carcharodon. The most 

 notorious member of this dangerous family is the Great White shark, 

 whose large, triangular, serrated teeth set it apart from all other mem- 

 bers of the family— and whose reputation as a man-eater is indisputable. 

 It is known all over the world as the Man-Eater. 



Great White Shark 



(Carcharodon carcharias Linnaeus, 1758) 



(Also Known as White Shark, Man-Eating Shark, White Pointer, 



White Death) 



Baleful legends and true tales of horror follow in the wake of this 

 hungry shark which cuts through the seas like a long knife. If the 

 shark is king of the sea, the Great White is the king of kings, recognizing 

 no claims of supremacy from any other creatures, be they sharks— or 

 men. It is the most voracious fish in the open seas, and one of the biggest, 

 growing certainly to 36 feet in length and perhaps to 40 or more feet. 



With its rows of saw-edged, razor-keen teeth, sometimes 2 inches 

 long; with its speed and its unerring scenting of prey, the Great White 

 is an instrument of death as swift and sure as a guillotine. It strikes a 

 victim with thousands of pounds of murderous impact. A Great White 

 21 feet long weighed 7,100 pounds. Imagine, then, the power of a 36- 

 foot Great White lunging toward a man. If this nightmare is translated 

 into the abstraction of physics, it is possible that even a mere 200- or 

 300-pound Great White can hurl itself toward prey with sufficient 

 force to snap the largest human bones— after its teeth have bitten through 

 the yielding flesh. 



Great Whites frequently devour their prey intact. Other sharks from 

 4 to 7 feet long have been found entire in the beUies of Great Whites. 

 A sea lion weighing 100 pounds was found in a Great White taken off 

 California. The incredible discovery of the remains of a whole horse in 

 a Great White captured in Australia was reliably reported. A Great 

 White taken in Florida waters had in it two sharks, each of which was 



