Habitat

(Red lines indicate the waters traveled by Great White Sharks.)

Primarily a coastal and offshore inhabitant of continental and insular shelves, but large individuals have been recorded off oceanic islands; often occurs close inshore to the surfline and penetrates shallow bays in continental waters but also frequents offshore continental islands, especially those with pinniped colonies. Known depth range is from the surface to at least 6,150 ft (1,875 m). Seems to prefer waters with sea surface temperatures of 59-72 °F (15-22 °C); known sea surface temperature range is 45-81 degrees F (7-27 °C); probable bottom temperature at maximum recorded depth is 39 °F (4 °C).