SHARK VS SHARK

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.

LivingGaleocerdo cuvier×LivingCarcharodon carcharias
QUICK VERDICT

White shark is about 1.09× longer by these reference values.

White shark uses a 6 m upper reference, compared with 5.5 m for Tiger shark. White shark's weight reference is about 2.5× heavier.

01

ON THE SAME SCALE

Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.

RELATIVE LENGTH · 0–24 METERS
ATiger sharklargest specimens exceed 5.5 m / 18 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.

MeasureTiger sharkWhite shark
Length referencelargest specimens exceed 5.5 m / 18 ftabout 6 m / 20 ft
Weight referenceexceptional estimate over 900 kg / 2,000 lbreported to about 2,268 kg / 5,000 lb
Bite forceNo dependable maximum foundUnknownabout 18,000 NModeled
HabitatTropical and warm-temperate seasTemperate seas worldwide
DietTurtles, fishes, birds, carrion and moreFish, rays and marine mammals
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Tiger shark is represented by largest specimens exceed 5.5 m / 18 ft; White shark by about 6 m / 20 ft. Both values describe exceptional animals, not an average adult. Maximum length and mass are exceptional upper-end figures.

Bite evidence

Tiger shark: Popular figures are often repeated without a traceable species-level method. 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 broad diet is real; an exact maximum bite number is not well established. Its headline bite number is a computer model, not a live-animal measurement.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

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