10 places you're most likely to see a great white shark

Great White Shark

Great white sharks can swim up to 35 mph.
Elias Levy/Flickr
  • Great white sharks are found in oceans in all parts of the world.
  • Getting bitten by a shark is much less common than is often believed: According to the International Wildlife Museum, the chances are one in 3.75 million.
  • From the chilly Atlantic waters of Cape Cod to the California coast, here are 10 places where you're likely to see great white sharks in person.

Sharks have inhabited ocean waters for millions of years, making them older than the dinosaurs. Great white sharks, one of the largest kinds, are found across the world.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, great white sharks live in many parts of the world because they have no trouble migrating long distances; they can swim up to 35 mph and have a warm-blooded circulatory system that allows them to swim in colder waters. They like to congregate in areas with a lot of fish, giving them easier access to food. These areas include coastal regions in Australia, California, New Zealand, and Africa.

While great white sharks are reportedly involved in more attacks on humans than any other kind of shark, the chances of getting bitten by one are only one in 3.75 million, according to the International Wildlife Museum.

Here are 10 places where you're most likely to see a great white shark:

The Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco are a food paradise for great whites.

The Farallon Islands.
Jeff Gunn/Flickr

The Farallon Islands are a small chain of islands and a wildlife refuge about 27 miles west of San Francisco. They are part of an ocean region called the "Red Triangle," which is named for the high number of great white shark attacks that occur there. But don't worry — the sharks mainly feast on the population of elephant seals and sea lions that breed near the islands.

The Farallons are closed to the public, but there are companies that give boat tours of the area. In October 2018, the Coast Guard rescued a diver who was believed to be filming a documentary in the area and was attacked by a great white shark.

The population of great white sharks in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is rising.

Sharks off the coast of Massachusetts' Cape Cod attacked and killed a surfer in September 2018.
WCVB

In the past few years, great white shark sightings have spiked in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. One resident from the town of Orleans told National Geographic in November 2018 that he spotted 10 great whites during one surf trip in the cape's waters. These sightings prompted beach closures throughout the region last year.

According to National Geographic, the booming gray seal population has attracted the sharks. Scientists from Florida Atlantic University suggested the northern Atlantic waters might also serve as a nursery for baby white sharks.

Stewart Island, New Zealand, is notorious for aggressive great white sharks.

Locals say they frequently see great white sharks in the shallow waters around Stewart Island.
HolidayPirates

Great white sharks have been protected in New Zealand since 2007.

Since fishing is one of New Zealand's largest industries, encounters with the massive sharks are frequent, and they can get caught in nets and other gear.

In 2016, one Stewart Island resident told The Guardian, "We see them all the time and not just one, sometimes three or four surrounding our boats."

False Bay in South Africa is the home of the flying great white sharks.

A great white shark breaching.
Shutterstock

South Africa's False Bay is famous for being one of the few sites where you can see great white sharks breaching to catch prey. This usually occurs during winter, which begins in May in the Southern Hemisphere, and coincides with migrating seal populations.

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