SHARK VS SHARK

Bull sharkvsGreat white shark

See the size difference first, then compare weight, habitat, diet and what the bite-force evidence can actually support.

LivingCarcharhinus leucas×LivingCarcharodon carcharias
QUICK VERDICT

Great white shark is about 1.50× longer by these reference values.

Great white shark uses a 6 m upper reference, compared with 4 m for Bull shark. Great 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
BGreat white 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 sharkGreat white 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 SETS THEM APART

More than a size contest.

Length and weight

Bull shark is represented by reported to 4 m / 13 ft; Great 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.

Habitat and diet

Bull shark: Coasts, estuaries and freshwater; fish, rays, turtles and other sharks. Great white shark: Temperate seas worldwide; fish, rays and marine mammals.

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. Great white shark: A 3-D finite-element model predicted the bite of a very large individual; it was not measured on a living shark.

Records are not averages

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

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Bull sharkHabegger et al. (2012) + Florida Museum ↗Great white sharkWroe et al. (2008) + Florida Museum ↗How we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →