Habitat
Continental shelves and slopes; rare but confirmed in Strait of Gibraltar waters.
All species
Great White Shark
Carcharodon carcharias
Highly aggressive
The largest predatory fish in the ocean — apex predator of temperate seas.
Maximum size
3.4–4.9 m
Aggressiveness
Highly aggressive
Ecology
Plays a top-down role in marine ecosystems; populations slow to recover from decline.
Feeding
Adults specialise on marine mammals; juveniles take fish, rays and other sharks.
Behaviour
Generally solitary, capable of long-distance transoceanic migrations.
Safety notes
Implicated in more unprovoked human bite incidents than any other species worldwide. Avoid swimming at dawn/dusk near seal colonies.
Conservation status
IUCN: Vulnerable.
Sources & Citations
Data compiled from peer-reviewed and authoritative open sources. Last reviewed 2026.
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Conservation status for each species.
- The Shark Trust — Species Database
Biology, ecology and identification.
- FishBase
Maximum sizes, distribution and life-history data.
- Florida Museum — International Shark Attack File
Documented species behaviour around humans.
- Nature Gibraltar / Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society
Local marine fauna records around the Strait.