SHARK VS SHARK

Oceanic whitetipvsWhite 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 longimanus×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 Oceanic whitetip. White shark's weight reference is about 14× heavier.

01

ON THE SAME SCALE

Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.

RELATIVE LENGTH · 0–24 METERS
AOceanic whitetipreported 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.

MeasureOceanic whitetipWhite shark
Length referencereported to 4 m / 13 ftabout 6 m / 20 ft
Weight referencerecorded to 167.4 kg / 369 lbreported to about 2,268 kg / 5,000 lb
Bite forceNo dependable maximum foundUnknownabout 18,000 NModeled
HabitatWarm open oceanTemperate seas worldwide
DietFishes, squid, turtles and carrionFish, rays and marine mammals
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Oceanic whitetip is represented by reported to 4 m / 13 ft; White shark by about 6 m / 20 ft. The comparison deliberately distinguishes the record from common size. Maximum length and mass are exceptional upper-end figures.

Bite evidence

Oceanic whitetip: A traceable, species-wide maximum is not available. 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

Most individuals are under 3 m even though larger records exist. Its headline bite number is a computer model, not a live-animal measurement.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Oceanic whitetipFlorida MuseumWhite sharkWroe et al. (2008) + Florida MuseumHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →