What was the size of the largest great white shark ever caught?
The size of the largest great white still swimming and the largest white pointer ever caught is the real question. Great whites in the upper size range are generally caught to a large extent inadvertently or when targeted with the assistance of very heavy fishing gear, a very experienced fisherman or fishing crew, and finally a very liberal dose of luck. Generally speaking a fish capable of biting through steel wire, breaking chain and straightening a 5mm diameter forged steel hook is not your average catch. Not to mention biting cod ends out of trawl nets designed and manufactured and proven to hold 100 tonne and upwards catches. As an Australian Fisheries Officer I have been called to attend, have been told of white pointer and tiger shark encounters. Most of these encounters centre around areas where big sharks are common ei Whaling Stations, seal colonies and isolated areas. Some of these encounters are as follows. 50s 60s 70s regular snaring of whites using steel nooses over 18 fo
Based on all the evidence I’ve seen, it is my opinion that modern great whites probably don’t grow to much more than 18- 19 feet in length, and they can weigh well over 4000 pounds, perhaps as much as 5000 pounds. There have been several claims of great whites measuring more than 20 feet, but there isn’t much in the way of irrefutable evidence to support these claims. The largest fossil tooth from this species measured three and a half inches, so it did reach lengths of over 20 feet millions of years ago, while the largest modern tooth is 2.76″. One of the largest great whites I’ve ever seen in photos and video footage was a 4000 pound plus female caught by Vic Hislop off Australia, in 1987. While Vic claimed it measured over 22 feet, the video footage I’ve seen suggests that it was actually in the 16 to 18 foot range, but it was a truly massive fish. While lying flat on the ground, it’s back was waist high to the bystanders surrounding it. I’d guess it had to be at least 12 feet aroun
There are GWS in the upper size range around the Farallones or Ano Nuevo in Central California…i’d say an 21 footer is the biggest GWS some of them are pushing 2.5 tons but that’s it…why should you find in the open ocean bigger GWS than at their favorite hunting grounds along the Californian Coast (where they can feed on blubber rich Elephant Seals) on what do they feed in other seas on Dolphins, Sea Turtles, Rays and other Sharks…they need to keep the engines running with blubber rich Elephant Seals or they doesn’t grow large. In my opinion the GWS in Malta wasn’t bigger than 5.5 meter and the weight was NEVER over 3000 kg i’ve seen pictures of this GWS and think his/her weight was not more than 1800 kg.
