Could a Great White shark the size of 'Jaws' really exist?

Like King Kong, the shark in Jaws (1975) is a real life species, still existing today (only just). It’s not from outer space or an abandoned science experiment gone wrong (that we know of). So is a Great White shark the size of 'Jaws' possible? Ross from The Daily Jaws is joined by shark expert Kristian Parton to try and answer that very question.
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[@SHARKBYTES]

Thanks for having me again Ross 🦈🦈

[@TheDailyJaws]

Always a pleasure

[@EF-fc4du]

The size of the shark in Jaws was really a pretty brilliant decision. They placed it just outside of what we've recorded to make it more terrifying than anything anyone had ever seen but not too far beyond it to introduce a level of fantasy that could have broken the suspension of disbelief.

[@kyachdistent1301]

It's not brilliant at all, it just shows Spielberg utterly lacks the ability to just let the natural world do the acting. It's because of his pathetic insistence the Great White had to be outsize, more akin to a prehistoric predecessor (exactly what 'Deep Blue Sea would too 24 years later), that he used this trick to utterly ruin the 'Jurassic Park' franchise with all this misnaming dinosaurs, upsizing his favourites, while downsizing others, all the while completely ignoring all the plant-eaters as a force to be reckoned with. As for insisting Tyrannosaurus are blind if you stand still-WHAT AN IDIOT! And don't even get me started on their obsession with a dinosaur that didn't even exist! Then there's the invisible one made from all their favourites, because actual living dinosaurs in the actual fossil record aren't enough. He should stay away from the natural world, he knows nothing about it, and neither did the author Chrichton either, as he made the same mistakes and okayed them. This is so braindead-who looks a Great White who assaults you and goes: "You can't kill me, look at you, you don't even get HALF the size of that 'Jaws' dude." Besides, I thought nobody of age 20 or above (or even below) since the year 1985 EVER found those 'toy' sharks scary, isn't that one of the things they loved to boast about at high school?!

[@flynncaldow7927]

​@@kyachdistent1301 Your opinion.

[@Ghostofcalmaity]

@@kyachdistent1301that’s the opinion of someone who isn’t a casual movie goer and who cares it’s a movie the accuracy of anything like a dinosaur or shark doesn’t matter Plus your over reaction on a piece of fiction is amusing

[@kyachdistent1301]

@@flynncaldow7927 You know what an opinion is, I'm amazed. My opinion.

[@kyachdistent1301]

@@Ghostofcalmaity What the hell are you then, Barry Norman's ghost's nephew? Of course accuracy matters, clearly you're the kind of dolt who'll sit through anything, the more outlandish and ridiculous the better. How would you know what an overreaction is, it's a simple statement of fact, like it's fact people have been kissing Spielberg's arse for too long. He is not a perfect director at all. I think your pointless comment is amusing (actually I don't, there's no end to wastes of space like you on here trying to a fill a void you're unwanted for).

[@Jaytee.]

As a Jaws fan, when an expert says that 20 foot is as big as a Great White could reach, I don't mind admitting that I'm slighty disappointed. So I thought I'd measure out 20 feet. I started at one end of my dining room and finished up at the far side of my kitchen. Man alive! I take it all back! 20 foot is big enough! 🦈

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Largest caught is not the largest there is. Larger ones have been seen, and bite marks have been measured which put the shark over 20ft.

[@airjaws_8922]

Isn't deep blue 21 feet?

[@ryanwalker8843]

Yeah it's difficult to picture how big 20ft is until you see it. It's easy to see why there are lots of claims of great whites over 20ft, but when they are reliably verified, end up being a bit smaller than estimated. They look so huge that 20ft sounds conservative. At the same time though just because the claims of larger sharks havent been reliably verified dosent mean that they arr impossible. Its widely considered by experts that the largest accurately measured and verified Great whites are between 19.5 and 20ft long. Just because that's the largest shark caught and verified, does not definitively mean that is the largest ever great white though. I mean what is the likelihood, that we just so happend to have caught the largest specimen the ocean has to offer?

[@ryanwalker8843]

@@airjaws_8922 difficult to say since shes not actually been caught and measured. The most widely accepted estimate is 20ft. Some argue smaller at 19 ft others larger at 21 foot.

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

​@@airjaws_8922 no most scientists think she's around 17 or 18 ft. But you have to understand also that people are very unreliable when they are guessing size. Two two three feet may not seem like a lot but it's the difference between an 18-foot shark which we've seen numerous times and a 21-foot shark which we haven't seen and verified ever

[@Jeff_11B]

Deep Blue is freaking enormous.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

The Submarine and the Seven Star Lake specimen were larger though.

[@ryanwalker8843]

@@lyndoncmp5751 the Submarine was never caught or recorded on camera so its size is impossible to verify. Many experts think it's either a complete myth or if it did exist its size is exaggerated. All we have to go by with the Submarine is fisherman's tales. The Seven Star Lake sharks size is also highly debated with many experts claiming it's not been reliably verified.

[@scottyhamilton3999]

I honestly believe the stories of fisherman over this guy,!

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

​@@lyndoncmp5751 submarine was nothing more than a myth. The anomaly size great white would be like 20-22 ft. The average female great white is between 14 and 16 feet with the really big ones being 17 and 18 and the anomalies being 19 to 20 with maybe a little bit of room for 21 and 22 but unlikely. Once you're talkin 25ft, that's anywhere between 8 and 11 ft longer than the average. That's just not realistic that's 30% bigger than the average and it's just not happening. Do you largest great white that was accurately measured properly and verified scientifically was 19 ft 6 in. Most scientists actually think deep blue is around 17 or 18 ft not 19 or 20

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@thickerconstrictor9037 No, the Submarine was not a myth. It was well known to the fishermen in False Bay. Theo Ferriera wrote about encountering it a few times in his book Shark Man. He was a shark hunter turned conservationist and later worked with scientists. His son Craig still talks about it. Craig witnessed it too. It was no 30 footer but they were able to get a fairly accurate measurement as it swam alongside their 6 metre boat. It was at least a metre longer. The Submarine was circa 23/24ft. The Seven Star Lake specimen was 7 metres. Colin Ostle, Depart of Fisheries Officer working out of Albany, Western Australia, reported five bite marks on a dead whale in 1972 measuring 19 x 24 inches. This would put the shark circa the mid 20s. Any scientist will tell you that is highly unlikely a scientist has measured the largest ever example of a certain species. Its highly likely all female great whites will reach at least 18ft given the chance. There have been 16 footers not sexually mature. The really big great whites don't tend to converge in areas where most researchers are gathering data and filming them. For obvious reasons 18-20 footers are not going to be chasing small and medium sized pinnipeds in these locales where scientists head to. In fact all of the extremely large specimens apart from Deep Blue and Submarine have been encountered away from these areas. Here is Craig Ferriera on the Submarine. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHetd6WYor6CaNE

[@jaythor70]

One thing he didn't mention when he was mentioning about the "one seal pup a day" was that seals don't have pups all year long. There are only pups for a brief time actually in the water, so these sharks are having to find adults out at sea, as well. Whale carcasses and other large sea creatures have to make up part of the diet as well.

[@jmc32007]

If there were such a thing as a 25 ft white shark it wouldn't have the same proportions as the Jaws movie shark. Real white sharks have a more tapered nose/head. The head and mouth were exaggerated for visual impact in the film

[@treadstone1138]

In the book the shark is stated at about 20 ft. And considering the description of the attack on Alex Kintner, it would have to be at least a 20-ft shark with jaws that wide in order to engulf his entire head, trunk, pelvis and most of the raft.

[@nunyabizznis2198]

There was a great white caught off the cost of Italy that was 23ft and 5000lbs in 1987 and was confirmed. They also kept the jaws as record. So a 25 footer is possible.

[@Nick-vp7lp]

I was going to say, I'm sure the largest officially recorded was in the med, off Malta I thought.

[@ryanwalker8843]

Further studies have indicated its size was exaggerated and the 23ft claim is not reliably confirmed. Some experts like J.E think the largest reliably measured specimen is from Lege Point Western Australia in 1987 at 19.5ft. The Canadian Shark Research Centre reports a specimen of 20ft caught off Prince Edward Island as verified. There is a lot of debate among experts if any specimens over 20ft can be said to be reliably verified.

[@colinbrown9044]

​@Ryan Walker There was a white well over 25 feet here in the Bay of Fundy that scared a whale watching tour away. It was in the news here.

[@ryanwalker8843]

@@colinbrown9044 so it was seen in the water by some tourists... does that sound like its reliably measured to you?

[@colinbrown9044]

@Ryan Walker No it wasn't reliable. When I heard about it and how big they said it was I for sure thought Basking shark, however I asked a dfo officer and fisherman have seen the shark around and they confirmed it was well over 7m

[@ArmouryTerrain]

For 178 years, Whales were dragged ashore at Albany in Western Australia for processing. There are stories of huge Great White sharks savaging the whales being dragged in. All of the whale that was not processed for oil was thrown back into the bay. So with almost unlimited food, imagine how big a shark with growth hormone problems or giangantisim (can't spell this word)

[@lyndoncmp5751]

As I just mentioned, Colin Ostle of the Western Australian Fisheries Department measured bite marks on whales which would place the sharks in the mid 20s.

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

Sharks don't have gigantism. There are anomalies absolutely but the anomaly is a 20-foot animal. That's 25% bigger than the average. 25ft is just never going to happen. That's 50% bigger than the average and it's unrealistic

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

Also, humans are horrible at guessing sizes. We grossly exaggerate and that's a proven fact. Not to mention that there's videos out there on Joe rogan's channel of a basking shark that everyone swears is a great white despite the scientist coming on and saying it's not. People don't give a shit about facts they want to believe that there are 25 or sharks out there because of Jaws and the fact is they're wrong there is zero evidence to support that and they don't give a shit about how evidence works or how logic applies in science they just want to believe it so bad that they don't care but the fact is the wrong and they're never going to see it 25 ft great white

[@lyndoncmp5751]

thickerconstrictor9037 All female great whites will probably reach 18ft given the chance. And could grow bigger. The problem is most researchers go to small to medium sized pinniped colonies. Maximum sized great whites are not typically going to be going there. Off the Farallon Islands, though, where huge elephant seals are, great whites in the 16-20 ft range are more frequently seen there than, say, Seal Island off South Africa where sub adults and younger adults typically are.

[@mws755]

A lot of past stories of huge great whites. I think they are true

[@bowlining]

I’m going to be honest - I always loved the idea of Bruce being a member of a different species, but was classified as a Great White by Hooper cause there was nothing similar in the record. If the series is going to continue, I’d love them to introduce a new species of shark. This would explain extreme behavior of sharks in the series. Territoriality, massive size, Jowls and overall bulkier build, bottom and upper teeth being of the same shape, protruding eyes, extreme strength.

[@scorptarget]

Great idea!

[@bruceshark5501]

I'm extremely strong....I've been working out.

[@jennifersaylor6907]

If they are ever able to prove the MEGA shark theory JAWS could be one of them. Fun episode. My 2 cents is how could a shark that big be able to migrate and keep that size up. Plus if it's a girl, keeping that girth while carrying a baby would be very hard .

[@bowlining]

@@jennifersaylor6907 what’s a Mega shark?

[@carastone3473]

The ‘series’ (the correct term for films is ‘franchise’) should definitely NOT continue. The original movie is an amazing movie. The 2nd was just ok. The 3rd & 4th were horrid movies and not worth carrying the name ‘Jaws.’ No more Jaws movies. Leave the classic alone, Hollywood.

[@daveruda]

For me it was always clear that Jaws was something different. I knew just from the reactions of Quint and Hooper that they had never seen a shark behave like this. Its some kind of leviathan. Its a monster in great white shark form.. It acts with purpose and is sent to torment this place.

[@redelfshotthefood8213]

Grendel from Norse Mythology

[@colonelbeanbagsfishing1488]

If I remember estimates put Deep Blue between 19 to 22 feet long and we’ll over 4500 pounds, but off cause there’s no way to get an official weight and length without catching her which would not be a great idea for a Shark that big as they can die after fighting for too long. But I have a reason to think that Deep Blue could be 22 feet long.

[@Celebrindal333]

It just doesn’t make sense for a Great White that was so well fed it reached that size, to suddenly start attacking poor sources of fat and protein like dogs, little boys and old fishermen. Unless there was a sudden mass extinction of seals or sea lions nearby.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Seals and sea lions had nearly been wiped out there by the 1970s. They have only come back due to the 1972 Marine Mammal Act. I theorised the shark in Jaws had come across the Atlantic from the Azores, where it had been feeding on whale carcasses and was ravenous by the time it got there. The chance encounter with Chrissie, plus a lack of seals/sea lions kept it there. 👍

[@halomultiplayermoments3651]

It’s a movie 😂

[@johnmcnulty1129]

Quality stream Kris & Ross. There's one right here now ! I think he's just gone under the boat, put your gloves on, put your gloves on both of you.

[@TruthDragon.]

I have thought about this question a lot and agree with Kristian Parton that a 25-foot White Shark is a very low probability. Based on everything I know, I think White Sharks probably max out around 23 feet and Deep Blue may someday reach this length. The last information I found about Deep Blue was that she was about 21-feet. I have noticed that the very large sharks grow fat which in my opinion, slows them down and forces them to feed on larger, slower, and easier pray like Elephant Seals and whale carcasses. At 25-feet, a shark would have to eat way too much and would be so old and slow, its chances of survival are near zero in my opinion. With that said, I believe the largest sharks can be found near Elephant Seal Colonies (Farallons Islands or Isla Guadalupe or similar) and where dead whales would be plentiful (such as along migration routes for whales). You would probably have the best luck to find large White Sharks if you could find a location where a whale migration route passes by a large elephant seal colony site. The Farallon Islands kind of meets this criteria and those islands tend to attract larger White Sharks. In the past decade or so, I think scientists have said they have noticed a gradual increase in the size of White Sharks frequenting Isla Gualdalupe, as well. There are Elephant Seal colonies on Isla Guadalupe and I think Gray Whales may migrate near Isla Guadalupe. Your conversation about the rate of growth of White Sharks made me think that as a shark grows in size, the ratio of the weight of food that the shark can catch per day to the weight of the shark probably starts to decline. As this occurs, the rate of growth of the sharks body would naturally slow as the hormones in the shark start to signal that food is becoming scarcer and thus, adding size and length to the shark will diminish the sharks chances of survival. So when this happens, the sharks rate of growth slows. However, when a shark is young, its hormones probably tell it to catch as much food and grow as quickly as possible since the largest white sharks are dominant and have their choice of the best hunting grounds. Thus, young White Sharks grow at a very rapid pace which would fit well with an evolutionary model. White Shark populations are increasing off the coast of California because food is far more plentiful today than in the past and White Sharks have been protected there since the 1970s. So yes, larger White Sharks are going to be discovered in the next few decades thanks to successful conservation of seals. The goofy large White Shark sightings from back in the 1980s and prior were similar to Big Foot sightings today. They were just people trying to fool other people about the size of sharks "for the fun of it". There is also the fact that while people were not looking for clicks back then, they were writing books about sharks, so putting photos of supposed 30+ foot White Sharks in a book back then would help sell those books. To correct your conversation, 50 years ago when Jaws was made, there were far fewer seals in the oceans than today. Seals were killed for their blubber to use in oil lamps for lighting up to around 1900 and so many seals were killed by 1900, the west coast USA seals nearly went extinct. I don't have the exact data, but the the number of seals today is easily many multiples larger than it was when Jaws was made. More food in the oceans means a larger shark population can be supported and the data shows that White Shark populations today are much larger than in past decades. Shark scientists tend to avoid discussing this topic, probably because they fear it might cause people to fear sharks more than they already do. But the data about White Shark population increases is out there if you really want to find it. In fact, there are now so many White Sharks off the coast of CA that conservationists have not been able to grow the sea otter populations on the US west coast. They are trying to rescue the Sea Otters from extinction in CA and were able to raise their numbers to about 2,000 otters, but then the numbers of sea otters stopped increasing and they started finding dead sea otters all over the place with White Shark teeth marks in them. They think the White Sharks are mistaking the otters for seals and bite them and then spit them out, resulting in the death of the otter, but no meal for the shark. It is the increase in White Shark numbers that they believe stopped the increases in the otter population from taking place. I did quick google search about this to get a bit of an update about the California Sea Otter conservation efforts and included a few link below with some articles below or just google something like "California sea otter population stops increasing due to white sharks" as there are a number of other stories about this conservation effort. It does appear that scientists overcame the White Shark predation issue somewhat and have now raised the Sea Otter population to about 3,000 individuals, but White Sharks continue to threaten the Sea Otters. It seems that scientists maybe increasing the Sea Otter survival rates by introducing them into salt marsh areas that are less prone to White Shark predation. Doing so also benefits the salt marshes. sfist.com/2019/12/23/a-great-white-shark-gauntlet-is-stopping-sea-otters-from-returning-into-the-san-francisco-bay/ www.santacruzsentinel.com/2012/02/16/great-whites-taking-a-bite-out-of-california-sea-otter-population/

[@carlosdeleon8527]

There's a recent video by Wild World called "How big can a great white actually get?" Where the general consensus is that the max lenght is about 22 feet long and that is very very rare. Usually don't grow past 17 feet.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

All females will likely reach at least 18ft given the chance. There have been lots at that size.

[@scorptarget]

Awesome topic and video! 🦈👏🏽👏🏽

[@heatherphillips1234]

Great video! Deep Blue is enormous but the video you're referencing with Ocean Ramsey is actually another large female named Haole Girl. It is very possible that she was pregnant at that time the video was taken but they were also at the site of a whale carcass and she had gorged herself, which is why she was so very rotund in those photos.

[@intertubicular]

Any mature Great White shark is big enough for this land lover. Take a tape measure and extend it just 15 feet and look at it. Add the girth/ circumference, and the gaping mouth of a Great White shark. Absolutely huge and terrifying prehistoric fish. We don't need 25 footers.

[@CassandrashadowcassMorrison]

Calm down, people. What Peter Benchley (remember there was a book first) wrote and what Steven Spielberg filmed was basically Melville's Moby Dick but with a great white shark instead of a huge white sperm whale. A whale that sinks the boat and kills its captain and all the rest of it.

[@carastone3473]

I LOVE Shark Bytes!

[@ryanwalker8843]

The Shark in the novel is described as 20ft long. Hoopers estimate could be a nod to this. Although 25ft is larger that any accurately recorded Great White, it's not so much bigger that its ridiculous. It is conceivable that it's a record breaking specimen. Movies exaggerate things all the time and 25ft seems a reasonable slight exaggeration of max size. It doesn't cross over into the realms of ridiculous the 35ft shark in the dreadful 3rd movie does. Hooper and Quints reaction to it in the movie makes it clear that they've never seen a specimen like it. As they mentioned there was a period where the Guinness world record for Great Whites was like 36ft. Now its considered either wild exaggerations or not even great white at all but a basking shark. I'm guessing that in the 70s the max sizes of great whites were less well researched. So the model for the shark might be an exaggeration but not a wild one.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

And back then, 30 plus ft was thought to be the maximum.

[@treadstone1138]

In the book Great White Shark by Richard Ellis, he mentions the 36 ft record and it turns out it was a clerical error. Because the jaws of the shark were saved and a 36 ft shark would not have jaws that small.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@treadstone1138 Yes the 36 footer was probably a typo and should have read 16 ft. This was discovered in the 1960s but it still hadn't been widely published even by the 1970s so author Peter Benchley when he wrote Jaws in the early 1970s hadn't heard that the 36 footer had been relegated to circa 16 ft.

[@Julie-kq7pm]

I loved everything about this collaboration!!! Great information and ideas! Thank you for your hard work!!!

[@adamhickey396]

Those calculations at the beginning were really fascinating to hear and would explain, in universe, why Bruce targeted predominantly humans. They were easy targets for him to eat to keep his gargantuan appetite sustained.

[@Tareltonlives]

I'm not sure how a 15 foot fast-swimming, incredibly muscular, fairly intelligent, , blade-toothed, swimming nose is somehow less intimidating anyway.

[@BAZFANSHOTHITSClassicTunes]

The shark was deliberatly over sized fpr the tention and horror, Imagine if jaws was 5foot long, it would be more a comedy than anything else.

[@colonelbeanbagsfishing1488]

The biggest Greet White Shark killed on record that was measured and weighed and photographed was here in Australia in 1985 or 1987 by Vic Hislop, he harpooned and shot a 21.4 foot 4400 pound Great White Shark.

[@Horror_Film_Aficionado]

Yes its a scientific fact they absolutely do exist

[@TheDailyJaws]

Can you share this evidence? We'd love to see it!

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

No it's not. Scientifically the largest shark ever accurately measured and verified by scientists is 19 ft 6 in. There are claims of bigger sharks but claims are not evidence. Even deep blue is supposedly 20ft but she's never been measured and most scientists that have done accurate size comparisons say she's 17 to 18 ft. They do not get 25 ft. Their Max size is 19 to 20

[@jesusmejia79]

Jaws in the novel is 20 feet in the film he 20 or 25 feet

[@Jspore-ip5rk]

Ask the same question to Jack Rochelle lol. He was attacked by a shark that was minimum 7m and maximum 8. That estimation came not only from the divers and sailors but also experts who found a tooth fragment of the behemoth and studied it.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Not only the tooth fragment but the bite wound dimension too. Ralph Collier accepts the size estimation of the attacking shark as 7 to 8 metres. Colin Ostle of the Dept of Fisheries in Western Australia measured 5 bite marks on a dead whale that indicated a 8 metre specimen.

[@mabinogidrws]

The bit about the seagull pulling human remains out of a bin 🤣

[@Primal_Waters]

Heaps of stories of sightings of Great Whites in Australia ranging in size 7m to 9m.

[@apollosaturn5]

If the idea of a 25-foot great white shark wouldn't be as realistic because of how massive it would be and the amount of food it would require to survive, not to mention how long it would take to reach that size, I can't imagine the idea of a 35-foot shark like in Jaws 3D. Back in 1983, the shark in that movie would had been around during the civil war.

[@sunnysiderails397]

Great video, I gotta believe there are some over 20 feet, but 25 might be a bit much, but that's what made the movie so great!

[@metronorthamtrakmatty8183]

Some Great White Sharks grows to 21 feet But Males grow to 11 to 13 feet and females grow to 16 to 17 feet

[@garywillig5143]

Judging from this discussion, the sharks in the Jaws movies constantly attacking and eating humans is more realistic than I always assumed if they have to eat so often when they reach that size and weight. Usually the fact that the animal hunts even when it should not be hungry since it just ate someone is one of the biggest plotholes in these 'animals attack' movies.

[@MrRambo1037]

I actually came across a recorded shark attack that could fit the bill. Jack Rochette was attacked (and LIVED!) by a huge white shark. They pulled a tooth fragment out of him, and combined with the eye witness testimonials, they estimated that shark to be 7 to 8 meters long. That's the largest white shark attack on record. Maybe it's just an estimation, but that's still a hell of a fish.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

And Colin Ostle of the Western Australian Dept of Fisheries in 1972 measured five bites on a dead whale at 24 x 19 inches, which would place the shark in the mid 20s. Ostle saw larger bites in 1968 but wasn't able to measure them.

[@MrRambo1037]

@@lyndoncmp5751 There was also the (Unfortunately fatal) attack on Lewis Boren. That shark was estimated to be in excess of 7 meters.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@MrRambo1037 Yes that shark too was allegedly in excess of 20ft. Good shout.

[@lonepine1970]

I don't know how big a Great White could get but, Orcas grow upto 32 feet and have a similar diet. Sperm whales are upto 66 feet long. Doesn't this suggest that there is enough food to sustain animals of this size? Maybe truly large Great Whites move into deep waters and feed on different prey.

[@chrisculshaw1887]

Thank you for posting such interesting content!

[@twoheadedtasmanian1481]

95% of the ocean is unexplored so any scientist worth a grain of salt couldn’t rule it out.

[@orcams15lf71]

Years ago in Australia a diver in a shark cage spotted a Great White and it was guessed to be around 24 feet that was close to Bruce. I read this in a book about sharks. I still have the book somewhere.

[@CubbiesMLB]

Up until about 20 years ago scientists denied giant squids existed so im pretty sure there are or have been 25ft great whites

[@royhenley2396]

8 meters +. Despite "scientific" mathematical constraints. There are no buffets in nature. Sporadic feedings, from feast to famine, are the norm. It is rare for a White Shark to find a location with an ongoing year-round sustainable food source. Their digestive systems are better adapted to feast/famine consumption anyway. They consume other animals, including a few bones. But they can not pass the larger bones. The skulls, ribs, etc. are regurgitated. Regular feeding on smaller seals (that have proportionally less blubber), doesn't give their stomach acids enough time to strip the digestible soft tissue from the bones. So eating a smaller animal on a daily basis would mean they'd be regurgitating the new food with the old. That's not very efficient. Large White Sharks are perfectly adapted to killing and eating other large animals in chunks. Then swimming off to fully digest the food in their belly for days, without feeding again until they regurgitate the undigestable parts. This break in predation also gives their food sources time to recover from witnessing the trauma of a violent attack, and allow time for the prey to repopulate a particular location. Typically there's a hit and run attack, then return to consume the dead carcass, and leave the area for days. Unless you happened to see the short feeding event, you'd never know otherwise. Nevertheless, there are several documented 20 footers (6 meters) around the planet. Even a few reliable accounts, and forensic evidence of 7m animals in modern times: Cuba, California, Mexico, Okinawa, Sicily, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and more. Larger White Sharks, say 8m plus and 16,000 pounds, would be even older, with many more life experiences, and have the ability to locate the reliable food sources they require. Much like a trophy Whitetail Buck, these exceptional animals learn to find dependable sources of rich food. But possibly even more importantly, top predators learn how to avoid danger, like Orcas and mankind. Or, they die. It is a numbers game. Humans are depleting the ocean of life, top to bottom, large to small. So of course it makes sense that an 8m+ White Shark would be VERY hard to find. Again, especially since they would have learned how to be suspicious and avoid men, their ships, and fishing gear. Nets and sonar go hand in hand for commercial fishing, so they'd know danger is approaching. But given the amount of volume in the three dimensional oceans, just because no marine biologist has actually measured one, THAT'S NOT PROOF THEY DON'T EXIST. If I wanted to find GIANT White Sharks, I would hang out around their likely food sources. Southern Elephant Seal bulls get up to 11,000 pounds and more. Sooner or later they all have to breathe. As well as haul out onto a beach, and return to feed.

[@krugtbifro6152]

I thought this was a brilliant listen Love jaws and loved the science here Good work

[@nathandorman1827]

What about the story of the shark attack in California where the bite radius equated to a 23+ plus shark. Can anyone speak to that?

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Jack Rochette in the 1960s?

[@jameskeanevideos5376]

@@lyndoncmp5751 I'd say it was Lewis Boren attack in 1981 perhaps. But both attacks indicated the shark could have been 7m

[@noninoni9962]

For Shark Bytes-- I love your channel and agree with 98% of everything you talk about, BUT, I don't buy your math on how much food a shark needs to eat per ton of weight... And, I believe given the right circumstances, and no one wants its fins in soup or a trophy for their man-cave, CAN reach 25 feet in length... For the first debate, the larger it is, the LESS calories it will need, NOT double or triple for a 2 or 3 ton shark, respectively... They are somewhat "warmblooded" so, in simple form, much of it's calories are to keep the muscles warm, and the larger and more muscles, it will retain the "heat" longer... Plus, it's metabalism would be a lot slower when it gets to the (what I'm guessing) 15' to 17' size and beyond... So, they wouldn't need to double or triple it's intake, as it's larger size allows it to eat exponentially less... Second, age has a lot to do with it, as sharks keep growing as long as they're alive (assuming their eating habits don't change)... So, if 18' to 20' sharks are estimated 50 years old, given another 20 years, it's entirely possible they could to grow to a huge size... IF we don't kill it first... Third, we don't know if their genes regulate how long they can reach, or if there is a cut off... And, we don't know long can they live without succumbing to natural disease... And, is there such a thing as a GWS with a "large shark gene," but we've managed to kill them all off, or are there a few specimens left?

[@consumer-1147]

The Vic heslop shark was 21 feet and weighed in at a record not sure what weight but it was caught in 1987 off philip island austraila

[@lungching7102]

In 2007 I was in tunisian kerkennah's islands coast on a Cap camarat boat ,it was at nightfall we were 3 on the boat we saw a huge white shark ( no basking ,no whale shark....we saw the jaws,he bite our buoy !) This shark was bigger than our boat ...the fishermen next to us in their small boat were terrifying and returned immediatly ...

[@tomtalker2000]

A White Shark of 25ft would EASILY weigh more than 6000lbs or 3 tons. Deep Blue which is 20ft is over 5500lbs herself. So yes a 25ft White Shark would be tipping the scales at 11,000lbs or 5 tons which would be massive.

[@shaunpenne1840]

I think that Australian shark fisherman Vic Hislop caught one of the biggest that measured 23 feet. Though, Vic Hislop views them with disdain in my opinion! I remember watching a documentary on Great Whites with these mulleted meat-heads who proclaimed "If Jaws the movie was set on our boat, it'd be over in ten minutes, we'd have killed it!" They also said it's the thrill of maybe even catching and killing the last one! Its people like that who are a danger to wildlife and if they were in Jaws, they'd have ended up like Ben Gardner and his crew!!!

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

The biggest one he caught was allegedly 20 ft 8 in but he did not get it verified scientifically and would not let anyone measure it. He just said you have to believe me. The longest shark ever accurately verified scientifically was 19 ft 6 in.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@thickerconstrictor9037 Yes. John McCosker and Richard Ellis tried to contact Hislop to go there and accurately measure it but he didn't respond to their requests and very quickly got rid of it and sold it to the Japanese before they could fly out there.

[@leonardvicari2857]

I heard the jersey shore attacks shark was 15 feet in length which Jaws was based on

[@SuziQ499]

Tallest human is 8ft 11 inch the average is 5ft 10 inch for men that would mean with calculation the average Great White is around 13-15 ft so you could safely say that a Great White in very rare instances could reach 26 ft with the largest ever caught being 22-23 ft which is extremely rare however it seems the largest Great Whites reside in the Med sea or did as many believe they are so rare if not extinct there.

[@dhoye1225]

Imagine how many scientists would conclude humans max out at 6'5-6'7 because that's all they've seen. I knew a 7 footer and to think a person could get almost 2 feet taller is NUTS!

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

False. The average great white is 14 and 15 ft with the large specimens being 17 and 18 ft and an anomaly shark would be 19 to 21. Longest ever accurately documented was 19 ft 6 in.

[@samanthadomett418]

if there's 20ft whites out there, there will be a 25ft without a doubt. Funny that I typed this out before watching you vid. I've been having this conversation for many years and although they tend to grow girthier rather than longer the larger they get, I still think another 5 feet is totally possible. I look forward to the day I'm proven right lol

[@lyndoncmp5751]

I agree. There is anecdotal evidence of them up to the mid 20s. Largest caught isn't the largest in existence. 👍

[@timothyburleigh68]

Well first love your videos keep up the good work. Second I'm not a Shark Expert , but the fact that in Shark history there was Megs" that were 50 -60 feet. It's not Impossible. Also there is a Video on KZbin of a Family is Fishing and they Video tape a Huge Shark that looks Kind of like a Great White BUT it's nose is not as pointed, and when you see it from the side it's just HuGE. Please check it out. This is the Video: "Giant Shark Encounter, Barnstable Harbor, Cape Cod, 2017.

[@mohsenslim4395]

The shark from JAWS is around 27 feet as Quint said so it just doesnt grow that big the biggest it can get is 23 feet

[@grahamjones6106]

Just something to take into account.Before I begin just let me say (in my humble opinion) that adult great white shark sizes on average,differ in various places around the world. For example, yes, adult great white sharks off south Africa probably do average between 13 and 15 feet long, however.Adults off the waters of for example New Zealand and California average between 14 and 18 feet ( depending on the sex). Adult great white sharks that spend most of their lives in the waters around Guadalupe and the Mediterranean are even larger on average.Now the important things to remember is that sharks keep growing up until they die.So even though there probably are 25+ foot great white sharks out there, they're probably very old and not quite in their prime. Having said that, they still are the ultimate solitary predator on the planet

[@drippler8519]

There is a possibility

[@malligrub]

A 4-5 tonne shark isn't going for pups anymore-too inefficient. It would be easily able to take adult seals of several hundred kilograms and even some of the smaller whale species, thus providing it with surplus nutrition even if it only ate once per week. This doesn't seem like a barrier, especially given we know how massive sharks got in the past when they had available prey to sustain them.

[@postersandstuff770]

they can prolly go a whole month w/o food

[@dennisdudley4419]

In 1981, off the coast of San Francisco, a surfer was killed by a Great White, and according to the evidence, the remains of the victim,and the size of the bite taken out of the surf board, the shark that killed him was at least 23 feet in length, and if you listen to the stories told by professional fisherman, there are specimens out there that are bigger than that. When one considers the fact that only 5% of the world ocean has been explored, it is quite possible that we don't have a clue as to what is really out there.

[@shamrockballs1066]

I think the point of the movie was it was meant to be big. Bigger than any white we've ever seen. Have any of you heard about the 23 and a half foot long white caught in the Mediterranean in the 1980s/90s? I'd also be interested to know is there any shrinkage when a dead shark is caught? Also, whites were hunted to near extinction in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Since then they have been protected and we are starting to see bigger whites come on the scene like Deep Blue. So I disagree with the hypothesis that fishing wouldn't have an affect on the species reaching its full potential. In saying that I would say that 21 feet is rare, but I'd never rule it out that they could get bigger. Who's to say? But the bottom line is the movie is a fantasy/adventure/horror film lol the production designer said that they knew that the bigger they got the fatter they got so they went for a more upscaled 12foot male great white that is more slim lined as this looked better. But if you want me to buy into the reality of the fantasy there's no reason why the shark couldn't be migrating, moving around and eating up the food, from seal colonies to a small island once it goes over the 21, 22 foot range 🤷‍♂️

[@Glenn_Wackett]

Yes, I remember a documentary shown originally on Channel 4 in UK in the mid 90's called 'sharks in the Med' and part of it featured the story of Alfredo Cutajar who caught the massive shark off of the coast of Malta. Part 1 is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZS8eYpqg9aifLc&ab_channel=FistThingsFirst

[@shamrockballs1066]

@@Glenn_Wackett That's exactly it. And of course we all know the stories of the fish that got away, or did you weigh the chain lol it just seems that scientists are always retrospectively rewriting white shark sizes as time goes on for some reason when they werent even there - and its always shorter lol. Sometimes its difficult to even weigh these white sharks because they are so big. That's why I ask do they shrink even a little after death? Sometimes they look shrivelled. I'm curious could this be a factor in determining shark length or comparing different dead sharks to guestimate a sharks size. We also know some have differing features like dorsal shape and size. Who's to say one sharks jaw size doesn't correspond to another sharks jaw size regardless of length or girth, or tooth size for that matter.

[@Tareltonlives]

That is an interesting possibility- fish sizes have been going down for the past century. You've got beach clearance and fur hunting wiping out seals. The whaling industry's been wiping out whales. You've got pollution of course. What if 20 footers were more common back in the 18th or 17th century? Sure, you'd get fewer encounters with humans (Watson and the Shark was a famous one because it was one actually recorded by Europeans) but you'd get fewer restrictions on size.

[@Trail_sniffer75]

Vic Hislop 1985 catch 21ft 8 inches and 5085 lbs in weight

[@funkyanimaltheearloffunkdo1871]

I imagine that when Great Whites reach a certain size, they become fodder for Orcas.

[@MrPrice2U]

JAWS was NOT the name of the freakin shark! It's an abstract and brilliant title. This is driving me crazy since the 70s.

[@davidjoyner8628]

im thinking the bigger sharks are not hunting seals dew to not being fast enough to catch them maybe they move to deeper ocean different prey. overall its a huge ocean and if 20+ foot mega mouth sharks can stay hidden until the 1970s anything is possible.

[@jaynenunya6070]

in the deep ocean, there's a lack of large prey that could meet their caloric needs. plus, great whites aren't built to withstand that amount of pressure

[@Jameskenomis3]

I love how “ experts “ say that sharks don’t like to eat people. Have they asked one? I can name a lot of cases where the shark returned again and again to feed on a victim, or just completely ate them. Not to mention sea disasters causing hundreds if not thousands of people to be consumed by sharks. We are made out of meat similar to pork. Certain types of sharks have no problem making us a meal. Then he says we are mostly bony… 😆 Has he looked at the US population much?! Few people are bony.

[@user-ky7gv5qm9k]

In the 1980s, a swimmer, who died after being attacked off Santa Barbara Beach, had a bite mark on both his body and wetsuit which indicated that the great white that attacked him was about 25 ft and over 2.5 tons. That’s close enough to be the same size as Bruce, but only female great whites get that massive. So, it was quite possibly a girl shark that did the deadly deed.

[@jameskeanevideos5376]

Lewis Boren in 1981? Based on the evidence they estimated 23ft.

[@user-ky7gv5qm9k]

@@jameskeanevideos5376 I don’t think the victim’s name was Lewis Boren; the first name was Jimmy. I remember that he was diving for sea urchins when he was attacked.

[@rileychadwell5635]

I think Bruce from Jaws (the story and NOT the movie. Since the rubber shark from the movie WAS a given size) I think Bruce was a misidentified 23 footer.

[@zosometalgod]

Smaller great whites eat seal pups but the large whites eat large sea lions especially here in California

[@transmitcoum2857]

Pretty impressive facts n figures bout Jawses, i must say. But riddle me this: How tall does a shark weigh, in light years ?

[@arjunakorale6166]

GWs reach a max of 20 ft in length & anything more is just here-say. However, if you visited the oceans of the Cretaceous time period, millions of yrs in the past, you could have come across a 23 ft long fierce, killer shark with even more speed than a white shark. This shark was called Cretoxyrhina mantelli.

[@aaronlantrip6400]

The Meg makes Jaws look like scratch

[@jayhooks]

Christian, I like your shirt. Where did you get it from?

[@SHARKBYTES]

I got the shirt from a company called penryn vintage down here in Cornwall!

[@michaelredmond8083]

Hooper even says damn near megalodon

[@tanyaday6253]

Have you seen the show the wrath of submarine? I'd like to know what both of you think of it.

[@dereksteele5543]

The great white is known to inhabit all the world's oceans and seas but generally prefers sub tropical zones. It is found close to shore where as correctly pointed out in this video, it feeds mainly on marine mammals . However they also exist far out in the open ocean where they subsist on mainly a fish diet. Think large blue fin tuna for example. This shark can be explosively fast, which it needs to be, as the tuna is one of the fastest fish in the sea.

[@bartekhalemba8177]

There's also the black demon shark

[@trisF1981]

Deep blue is about 20

[@chrisdixon6062]

They just don't eat seals. They will eat other sharks

[@its_rick_james_bich2575]

Great whites aren’t that big in person. I went cage diving in South Africa a number of years back. I’m 6’3..and an approximate 15 foot Great White came to the cage. We eyed each other with caution. I gave it a look like “is that it, lucky this cage is between us..I could probably ave you” The shark gave me a look like..”this alien creature in my habitat looks larger than my usual prey..I might be biting off more than I can chew here..time to learn to swim backwards and make a hasty retreat”!!💪🏽

[@michaelredmond8083]

Quint says in the novel once there over 6 feet there trouble. And this son of a bitch is trouble😅

[@METALBUG999]

might only be a handful in the oceans.

[@01sweetdelight94]

I believe that they do exist.

[@denniswilkinson3864]

Yes it would be possible for a 25 foot great white shark

[@rhettcorbett3346]

For sure. They just haven't found it yet.🦈🦈🦈

[@drbjr99]

Deep Blue

[@mariaellis2882]

There’s probably a couple out there somewhere but they would be very old.

[@nilsfearon1]

Sharkbytes here I come! He is yummy 😋

[@kenshin034]

Jaws was underweight 4500 was Mundus 16ft shark jaws should of been around 7k like the 21ft white that was caught

[@cupidstunt22]

Yes

[@igorsvacic217]

ocean ramsy shark aint deep blue, its different specimen also, its probably just full (whale carcass near), not pregnant

[@0predaking0]

Didn't in the Books because of his size Bruce was theorized to be an Anomaly large Great White or a young Megalodon shark??? Just to be sure

[@stevenmoye5112]

kind of curious as to the size of shark that attacked lewis archer boren the original report put it at 24 ft then it went to 23 ft then it dropped 3 more times from there and heres my theory on it give or take foot and half thats still a massive specimen by any means there should not be that much error for the size there no reason to have that big of a mistake espeacially with the bite in the wetsuit the body and board being bitten in a single bite removing everything in that bite

[@lyndoncmp5751]

On the other hand the attacker of Jack Rochette is still cited as around 25ft with a leeway either side, based on the tooth fragment, bite radius and eye witness estimations.

[@Skeptic-Professor]

Have been filmed eating sperm whales and there is a video of an old sperm whale having its tail bitten and bleeding out, then eaten. Surprised this hasn’t been mentioned yet half way through.

[@jesusmejia79]

A great white shark 10-35 feet long heck even an individual that 39 feet long could exist But probably in the past or a lucky one that avoided humans Finding it for it entire Life

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

No that's not how it works. You're not going to see an animal that's 200% bigger than the average. The planet doesn't work like that. The average great white has 14 to 15 ft with large animals being 16 to 18 ft and the longest ever recorded being the anomaly at 19 ft 6. A 20 ft shark maybe Twenty-One could possibly exist but that is starting to get in the neighborhood of thirty to forty percent bigger than the average. A 25 ft great white is 50% bigger than the average and that's not how the world works animals don't grow 50% larger even if they are anomalies

[@jesusmejia79]

you Have the same avatar as my

[@bruceshark5501]

I'm huge.

[@rudichong3869]

To my knowledge Bruce the Shark from jaws is probably not a Great White its a Cretoxyrhina

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Actually Bruce was a plastic and metal and rubber mechanical contraption 😉

[@rudichong3869]

@@lyndoncmp5751 well said I know that thank you

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@rudichong3869 Sorry. I was only joking. In the novel Hooper is certain it's a great white and not any extinct species. At the time Jaws was written and then filmed great white sharks were thought to reach the size of the shark in the film so it wasn't seen as a record sized great white. Obviously the limits of technology altered its appearance, especially the need for a hinge to move the mouth, hence the jowels. I believe the head and teeth were also deliberately oversized for cinematic shock. A real great white that size would have a smaller head and mouth. Cheers.

[@rudichong3869]

@@lyndoncmp5751 I agree it was me who decides to identify it as a Cretoxyrhina based on my knowledge of prehistoric marine species the shape of the animal’s features does resemble that of an extinct Cretoxyrhina and for that I’m certain that Bruce the shark ain’t no white shark I’m very certain about that just that at that time when this film is shot nobody knows anything about Cretoxyrhina well there’s still room for twist and turn to the story if there’s a direct sequel or requel to Jaws then we can finally realise that Bruce the shark ain’t no Great White but an extinct species of prehistoric shark known as Cretoxyrhina and it would be perfect if it gets an R rating and it were to be directed by the director behind horror classics such as Piranha 3D and The Hills have Eyes remake director Alexandria Aja who also directed Crawl about killer Gators or the director should be Akasha Stevens who directed Immaculate and The First Omen I would pick her or maybe it should be director David Gordon Green behind the Halloween direct sequel and its sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends who also directed the failed direct sequel to The Exorcist which is the disappointing The Exorcist Believer I believe one of these horror film directors should direct a requel to Jaws

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@rudichong3869 They could do a prequel. Set in, say, the Azores where the Cretoxyrhina is harassing the whalers (they were still using open boats and hand held harpoons to hunt whales) and causing havoc there in the Azores, attacking and sinking whaling boats etc. Being the Azores, word did not get out internationally because the Azores were pretty isolated. At the end of the film the Cretoxyrhina heads across the Atlantic towards Amity, and is ravenous when it gets there. The film ends with the underwater opening shot with the shark eye view that begins Jaws. How about that?

[@goimei]

BJpumpkinclaw had a theory that they were baby megalodon

[@justincollins-ro4uo]

this was on cnn back in june it was found in budapest

[@lifeinlimbo2186]

The answer is yes.

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

Humans are absolutely horrible at guessing sizes and notorious for grossly exaggerating. We are all so awful at distinguishing species. Basking sharks are frequently mistaken for great whites because people don't give a shit about evidence. The longest great white that was accurately measured and verified scientifically was 19 ft 6 in. Deep blue is supposedly 20 but the majority of scientists think she's 17 to 18 ft. There are reports of 20 + 23 ft sharks but they were not verified. The problem is if you do not put their tail out in a swimming position, if you point the tail backwards, it gives the shark an extra two two three feet and that's not the proper way of measuring and that's what people have been caught doing. There has never been a shark over 20 ft verified. And what people don't realize is animals have an average size range and then they have big specimens and then they have the occasional anomaly. 19-20 feet IS the anomaly. A 23 to 25-ft shark is forty-50% larger than the average and that's not an anomaly that is just completely unrealistic and impossible. Fourteen to sixteen feet is the average large white shark 17 to 18 is a large large specimen but still pretty frequent. And the anomalies are 19 to 21 ft. Bigger than that is not happening. The problem is people don't give a shit about logic science or evidence they just want to believe what they want to believe and they don't care. That's why people believe in so many bulshit things that will never have enough evidence to support them

[@DarthPyrusTheVirus]

People just want to claim they've seen/found the "biggest" specimen of anything. Snakes, spiders, sharks, squid, lions, gorillas, crocodiles, you name it. Finding the biggest in history is the goal. Won't settle for less.

[@chinaski400]

7 meter specimans are real but rare. Don't forget about dead whales as a blubber source.