The white, tiger and bull sharks are the big three of the shark bite world.Īccording to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, white sharks have attacked and killed more humans than any other species on the planet, tallying 351 attacks (59 fatal) since the file began in 1958. Let’s get to the juicy details about shark attacks and the species that are most likely to bite and kill you. It’s confusing, but at least the science world is helping guide us in the direction of accuracy and brevity.

Rationally, having a shortfin version should equate to there also being a long-finned specimen. There’s standard mako shark, and then there’s the shortfin mako. There’s an ornate wobbegong, a spotted wobbegong and just the regular wobbegong. There are some odd names in the shark world as well, which can add further confusion. While most texts and old descriptions of white sharks still refer to them as great, that should change as more scientists cut to the chase and just drop the great. White sharks are great, however, in terms of size as well as their ability to cross vast chunks of the planet. Granted, scientists typically use Latin terms for these species, so the common names used by anglers and the public is not all that important. There are, however, some inconsistencies when it comes to the common names for various species.

T shark