SHARK VS SHARK

Sand tiger 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.

LivingCarcharias taurus×LivingCarcharodon carcharias
QUICK VERDICT

White shark is about 1.88× longer by these reference values.

White shark uses a 6 m upper reference, compared with 3.2 m for Sand tiger shark. 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
ASand tiger sharkreported to about 3.2 m / 10.5 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.

MeasureSand tiger sharkWhite shark
Length referencereported to about 3.2 m / 10.5 ftabout 6 m / 20 ft
Weight referencereported to about 159 kg / 350 lbreported to about 2,268 kg / 5,000 lb
Bite forceNo dependable maximum foundUnknownabout 18,000 NModeled
HabitatTemperate and subtropical coastsTemperate seas worldwide
DietFishes, rays, squid and crustaceansFish, rays and marine mammals
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Sand tiger shark is represented by reported to about 3.2 m / 10.5 ft; White shark by about 6 m / 20 ft. Upper records vary by region and source. Maximum length and mass are exceptional upper-end figures.

Bite evidence

Sand tiger shark: A reliable comparable maximum was not found. 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 protruding teeth look dramatic, but appearance alone does not reveal bite force. Its headline bite number is a computer model, not a live-animal measurement.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Sand tiger sharkFlorida MuseumWhite sharkWroe et al. (2008) + Florida MuseumHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →