10 Interesting Lesser-Known Facts About Great White Sharks

10 interesting lesser-known facts about Great White Sharks that will make you think twice about these incredible creatures:

1. Great White Sharks can detect a single drop of blood in an Olympic-sized pool, thanks to their highly sensitive nostrils, which can pick up minute traces of chemicals in the water.
2. They can swim up to 25 miles per hour in short bursts, making them one of the fastest predators in the ocean, capable of explosive speed when attacking.
3. Great Whites have a specialized “Ampullae of Lorenzini,” tiny pores on their snouts that allow them to sense the electrical fields emitted by prey, even in total darkness.
4. They have multiple rows of teeth that are constantly replaced, with each shark growing around 20,000 teeth over its lifetime—ensuring they’re always armed for hunting.
5. Despite their fearsome reputation, Great Whites are surprisingly curious, often circling boats or divers to investigate their surroundings before deciding to move on.
6. Great Whites are known to migrate thousands of miles, traveling between California and Hawaii or South Africa and Australia for feeding and breeding—one of the longest migrations in the animal kingdom.
7. They can hold their breath for over an hour, thanks to a unique ability to keep oxygen-rich blood flowing to their brain and muscles while they are underwater.
8. Great Whites are born from eggs, but instead of hatching outside the mother’s body, the eggs hatch internally, and the young are born live—a process called ovoviviparity.
9. They’ve been around for over 16 million years, making them one of the oldest species still swimming today, virtually unchanged since the age of the dinosaurs.
10. Great Whites have been known to breach the surface and leap up to 10 feet out of the water, a spectacular hunting technique used to surprise seals and other prey from below.

These apex predators are far more complex and fascinating than their Hollywood image suggests!