SHARK VS SHARK

Bull sharkvsWhite shark

Length, weight and bite evidence—plus context from a human, city bus and blue whale. Every number below carries its uncertainty with it.

LivingCarcharhinus leucas×LivingCarcharodon carcharias
QUICK VERDICT

White shark is about 1.50× longer by these reference values.

White shark uses a 6 m upper reference, compared with 4 m for Bull shark. White shark's weight reference is about 7.2× heavier.

01

ON THE SAME SCALE

Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.

RELATIVE LENGTH · 0–24 METERS
ABull sharkreported to 4 m / 13 ft
BWhite sharkabout 6 m / 20 ft
REFAdult human1.8 m · about 80 kg

Length bars use upper comparison values and do not show body depth, tail proportion or typical adult size. A long thresher tail, for example, does not equal whale-shark body mass.

02

THE NUMBERS

Side by side.

MeasureBull sharkWhite shark
Length referencereported to 4 m / 13 ftabout 6 m / 20 ft
Weight referencereported to 316.5 kg / 698 lbreported to about 2,268 kg / 5,000 lb
Bite force170–5,914 N across studied sizes and bite pointsModeledabout 18,000 NModeled
HabitatCoasts, estuaries and freshwaterTemperate seas worldwide
DietFish, rays, turtles and other sharksFish, rays and marine mammals
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Bull shark is represented by reported to 4 m / 13 ft; White shark by about 6 m / 20 ft. The 4 m figure is a reported maximum; typical mature animals are smaller. Maximum length and mass are exceptional upper-end figures.

Bite evidence

Bull shark: The upper value is a theoretical posterior bite for the largest specimen in a 73–285 cm study series—not a universal adult bite. White shark: A 3-D finite-element model predicted the bite of a very large individual; it was not measured on a living shark.

Living versus extinct

Both species are living, but record-sized individuals are rare. These upper references should not be read as normal adult size.

Ecology changes the matchup

Its freshwater range is exceptional among large coastal sharks. Its headline bite number is a computer model, not a live-animal measurement.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Bull sharkHabegger et al. (2012) + Florida MuseumWhite sharkWroe et al. (2008) + Florida MuseumHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →