The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, also known as white pointer, white shark, or white death, is an exceptionally large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. Reaching lengths of about 6 m (20 ft) and weighing up to 2,250 kg (5,000 lb), the great white shark is the world's largest known predatory fish. It is the only surviving species of its genus, Carcharodon.

Humans, in any case, are not healthy for great white sharks to eat because the sharks' digestion is too slow to cope with the human body's high ratio of bone to muscle and fat. Accordingly, in most recorded attacks, great whites have broken off contact after the first bite.

Fatalities are usually caused by loss of blood from the initial limb injury rather than from critical organ loss or from whole consumption