White shark
Carcharodon carcharias
Illustration: Bloom by Day
PROTECTED — look, don't shoot
Heavy, conical-snouted, with one very high dorsal fin and a sharp line where grey-brown meets white along the flank. Protected in every Australian water; the honest advice if you meet one is to keep it in sight, stay vertical and leave the water calmly.
how to recognise it
- a very high, broad first dorsal fin, with a minute second dorsal and anal fin
- a crescent-shaped tail with the lobes nearly equal
- large triangular serrated teeth
- blue-grey to greyish-brown above, changing ABRUPTLY to a white underside
don’t confuse with
- Grey nurse shark — the grey nurse has two dorsal fins of almost equal size set well back, rows of protruding dagger-like teeth, and scattered dark spots; its tail has a long upper lobe, not a crescent
- Tiger shark — the tiger shark has body bars and a broad blunt snout, and its second dorsal and anal fins are small but not minute
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size Length 6.4 m; weight 3000 kg.
facts
- habitat
- pelagic
- size
- ~400 cm, to 640 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (Length 6.4 m; weight 3000 kg); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 38 at 5 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
JFMAMJJASOND
A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — No take
source
· verified 2026-10-10
NSW — No take
source
· verified 2026-10-01
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.