Ask a Shark Expert
Read shark researcher Mark Marks' responses on the following shark topics:
Disappearing sharks
Shark evolution
Shark deterrent?
Nonstop swimmers?
Shark posturing
Swimming with the sharks?
Shark diving
Shark education
Shark enemies
Shark reproduction
Great white disposition
Favorite shark
Shark eyes
Shark companions
Bite pressure
Bladderless sharks
Warmblooded killers
Hammerheads
Thresher sharks
Great whites in captivity
Shark protection
Q: On Great White Disposition
How mean is the great white?
Krystal
No white sharks, nor any other sharks for that matter, are "mean" in the way that we humans think of mean. In fact, few living things on this planet have the same capacity for "meanness" than we human-monkeys! All jokes aside, I think what you're getting at is that sharks can be aggressive, which by the way isn't the same as being mean or malicious. Aggression is a useful state of being, when used during the appropriate situation. In the appropriate situation, aggression can be very helpful for sharks. They often use aggression to establish their place in the social pecking order, or as a means of protecting their personal space. In terms of comparing one shark species against another to decide which is the most aggressive, I'd say that bull sharks and gray reef sharks are known for getting nasty without any real provocation from, say, nearby divers or swimmers. Certainly, the white shark is the largest predatory shark out there, and having spent hundreds of hours underwater with them outside a cage, I can say that if they were as vicious as the media portrays them, it is highly unlikely that I'd be here to talk about them. That being said, under the wrong circumstances, they can be one of the most dangerous aquatic animals a human ever encounters.
