Jonathan Kieran

BEHOLD THIS LINK to a superb website regarding the very largest confirmed, semi-confirmed, and speculated Great White Shark specimens ever caught or encountered.

There remains to this day, despite the immediacy of myriad technological documentary methods, much misinformation about the largest specimens of Great White Sharks caught or onserved in modern times. Erroneous claims abound, measurements are disputed, and even peer-reviewed scientific papers have not been widely disseminated to the point wherein solid data has taken hold of the mainstream of public knowledge regarding these amazing marine predators.

While anecdotal information about Great White Sharks over 7m (23ft) in length abounds, at least in terms of individuals encountered and “eyeballed” by experts in the wild (cf. Farallon Islands, Australia, South Africa, etc.), many online armchair “experts” and even some snippy professional researchers continue to scoff at such figures. The fact of the matter, however, is that we do have at least a handful of scientifically analyzed and supported cases of Great White Sharks equalling or exceeding the 7m range, with attendant research papers confirming the likely magnitude of these specimens. Coincidentally, both of the most impressive examples to date were caught in 1987 on opposite parts of the globe.

One large female shark, designated KANGA, was caught in a net in Australian waters in 1987 and another, designated MALTA, was caught on tuna lines that same year off the shores of her namesake island. Both expert fishermen involved reported lengths of at least 23 ft for both sharks, even though the unwieldy size of these behemoths made it next to impossible to actually land the animals for exact measurement before the carcasses needed to be chopped-up for purposes of mobility and burial. Nevertheless, intensive scientific studies on the morphology of both sharks and portions of their preserved remains—along with photographic evidence—have ruled that the original estimates of the fishermen are not only viable … they are almost certain. In the case of KANGA, an outer morphological range of projection allows for a total length of over 26ft, a truly astonishing possibility.

The legendary status of these big females has been diminished by excitement surrounding video footage of numerous other large great whites over the past decade, especially surrounding a specimen dubbed DEEP BLUE, a hefty female first encountered and filmed in the waters near Ano Nuevo, Mexico. It has become commonplace across all media to ascribe a length of 20–21 ft to this undeniably impressive Great White, but in point of fact, most observing scientists are of the opinion that this now-famous creature is more along the lines of 17–18 ft in length, making her significantly less glorious than either the KANGA or MALTA sharks, though mighty she remains.

At all events, stir your sharky intrigue at this informative and footnoted WEBSITE. It’s well worth a gander if you (like me) are enamored of the outliers and Big Mamas of the Great White Shark kingdom. 🦈

[Jonathan is busy writing and illustrating and finishing a whole slew of projects in preparation for upcoming major releases. Don’t expect a helluva lot of bloggin’ to get done unless something really strikes his fancy. Be patient. Marvelous things are on the way.]

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