{"id":649289,"date":"2026-08-21T15:51:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/649289\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T15:51:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:51:32","slug":"how-do-great-white-sharks-get-their-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/649289\/","title":{"rendered":"How do great white sharks get their name?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Video from an OCEARCH expedition in Nova Scotia back in 2021 shows the shark tagging process, including measuring the shark, taking blood and tissue samples and attaching a tracker to the shark’s fin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Great white sharks are one of the top apex predators of the ocean<\/a>, with their distinct coloring making them easy to identify.<\/p>\n

But how did they get their name if they’re not white?<\/p>\n

Well, the sharks get their name because of their bright white belly. The rest of a shark’s body is gray or grayish-brown.<\/p>\n

WATCH: HUNDREDS OF SHARKS AND A LONE STINGRAY CAUGHT ON VIDEO NEAR BEACH IN NORTH CAROLINA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

According to OCEARCH<\/a>, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to researching and protecting sharks, whales, sea turtles and other ocean<\/a> life, this is called countershading.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

A great white shark patrols the waters near Dangerous Reef off Neptune Island in South Australia, one of the world’s premier habitats for the apex predator.<\/p>\n

(Photo by Reinhard Dirscherl\/ullstein bild via Getty Images \/ Getty Images)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Countershading is a natural form of camouflage when animals<\/a> have a darker upper body and white underside to help them hide from predators or prey.<\/p>\n

In the white sharks’ instance, it’s to allow the sharks to sneak up on their prey, and hide from anything that might want to find them.<\/p>\n

1,400-POUND GREAT WHITE SHARK MAKES BIG MOVES AS HE HEADS NORTH BEHIND OTHER SHARKS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

From above, their dark upper body helps them blend into the ocean below, while their white bellies blend in with the bright sunlight shining through the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many animal species have this type of countershading, though it’s most commonly seen in birds and marine animals.<\/p>\n

White sharks are one of the most well-studied shark species in the world, according to NOAA<\/a> Fisheries.<\/p>\n

SEE IT: MASSIVE, PREHISTORIC DISCOVERY FOUND BY FAMILY SEARCHING FOR SEASHELLS ON THE JERSEY SHORE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Despite their fearsome reputation as an apex predator, these sharks are actually highly vulnerable to human impacts like bycatching and overfishing, though it’s prohibited to fish them.<\/p>\n

\"Great <\/p>\n

Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, near the water surface, six nautical miles from the coast of Gansbaai, quite close to Dyer Island and Geyser Rock\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Education Images\/Universal Images Group \/ Getty Images)<\/strong><\/p>\n

White sharks are very slow to mature, living 70 years and older, and can grow to be 21 feet long and over 4,000 pounds, according to NOAA Fisheries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Want to track great white sharks in real time? Keep up with more than 400 other ocean<\/a> animals by using the free OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker app<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Video from an OCEARCH expedition in Nova Scotia back in 2021 shows the shark tagging process, including measuring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[273],"tags":[100,166340,18,19,17,57009,3619,133,172982,107,461,65],"class_list":["post-649289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-earth-space","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-learn","tag-ocean","tag-science","tag-stay22","tag-us","tag-wildlife","tag-world"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117134301650941134","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}