The Largest Great White Sharks Ever Found Off Victoria Waters

North of Tasmania, straddling the Bass Strait between the Tasman Sea and the Great Australian Bight, lies the state of Victoria — Australia’s second smallest state. The region is nestled on the southeastern coast of Australia and is home to some of the most breathtaking views in the world. Victoria waters are bordered by the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The area’s immaculate sights are perfectly complimented by some of the world’s most beautiful and diverse marine life. Although the splendor is captivating, some creatures found off the Victoria Coastline can be downright frightening. And perhaps no animal is quite as intimidating as the great white shark.

Great White Sharks

Referred to as the world’s largest known predatory fish, the great white shark is a colossal monster in the water. Their torpedo-shaped body creates perfect aerodynamics for efficient swimming, allowing them to make sudden, high-speed bursts while hunting their prey. With 300 teeth, they feed primarily on schools of smaller fish, seals, and dolphins. Interestingly, great whites don’t chew their food with all those teeth. Instead, they use their teeth to tear their prey into mouth-sized bites and swallow whole.

Great White Sharks Commonly Found in Victoria

Great whites travel an average of 2,500 miles annually. They are found in areas from the coast of South Africa to the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. The Victorian Coast sits directly between these expanses, making the great white shark population reasonably prevalent. The average baby great white, called a pup, comes into the world already measuring nearly four feet in length (3.9). Terrifyingly, this means pups are born at the top of the food chain!

A typical adult female is approximately 15-16 feet, while males are usually smaller, around 11-13 feet. Regardless of age or gender, however, you probably want to avoid encountering any of these notorious carnivores in the wild. Some of the largest great white sharks ever found were spotted or caught off Victoria waters.

What Was the Largest Shark Caught in Victoria?

In 1987, a controversial shark hunter named Vic Hislop from Stanthorpe, Queensland, captured an enormous great white in Australia. The shark was measured at just over 20 feet (6.1 meters) in length. Hislop entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest great white shark ever caught on November 6th of that year. And it happened off the Victorian coastline.

Great White Sharks in Guinness World Records

Before Hislop, two “great whites” were initially listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for sheer size. The first was caught in Victoria waters off the coast of Port Fairy in the 1870s. The monstrous specimen was measured at a whopping 36 feet (10.9 meters) in length! Of course, approximately one century later, in 1970, the remains were reexamined, and a more accurate measurement of 16.4 feet (5 meters) was recorded.

The other shark, caught in the 1930s in New Brunswick, Canada, measured an incredible 37 feet (11.3 meters) but was later found to be a misidentified Basking shark.

How Common Are Sharks in Victoria?

Victoria has more than 1,553 miles (2,500 kilometers) of coastline. Since Australia as a whole has at least 170 different species of sharks, a wide variety of them make their way through the area. However, according to Fisheries Victoria, seven common types of sharks live in Victoria. These include species from behemoths up to three-ton great whites to the iridescent elephant shark that barely measures five feet long.

What Types of Sharks are in Victoria?

Named for being enormous and having a white underbelly, the great white shark is one of the most common species found off Victoria waters. However, there are several different types of sharks commonly found in Victoria.

Tiger sharks are most frequently located around the northern areas of Australia but travel around all sides of the country. With stripes across their backs, the aptly named sharks are occasionally spotted off Victoria waters. The bronze whaler, which gets its name from its color, typically thrives around southern Australia. Many bronze whalers can be found in the coastal and continental shelf waters near Victoria. They can be potentially dangerous to humans but are not generally known to be aggressive.

Other sharks that can be seen off Victoria waters include the grey nurse shark, school shark, gummy shark, Port Jackson shark, and the broadnose sevengill shark. Gummy sharks are the most common species in the area, as they are found all over Victoria. Like school sharks, they are relatively small and make up a substantial part of the southern Australia commercial fishing industry.

Does Victoria Have Bull Sharks?

While most shark species in and around Victoria are not aggressive, bull sharks are typically dangerous. Thankfully, much like tiger sharks, bull sharks are not usually seen in the area. Great whites are often considered the most threatening species in Victoria, though this is partly due to the film JAWS.

How Many Shark Attacks Happen in Victoria?

First, it is essential to remember that shark attacks, in general, are incredibly uncommon. In fact, you are about five times more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark. Nevertheless, shark attacks do happen from time to time, with the last recorded shark attack death in Victoria occurring over 30 years ago.

Even though a shark has not fatally attacked a person in Victoria in more than three decades, it is vital to be mindful of their existence when entering the water. The U.S. state of Florida, also known as the “shark attack capital of the world,” accounts for more than half of all shark attacks annually. Hawaii, California, and the Carolinas come in just behind Florida for the frequency of attacks in the U.S. South Africa, and Australia come in after the U.S. for the likelihood of attacks worldwide.

What is the Largest Great White Shark Ever Seen?

The most giant great white shark ever verified and recorded dons the name “Deep Blue.” Deep Blue is an approximately 50-year-old female that measures over 20 feet in length. Scientists cannot say she is the biggest great white shark ever to live, but she is likely the largest alive today.

Deep Blue weighs an astonishingly 2.5 tons or approximately 5,000 pounds. However, the enormous shark does not live in or around Victoria waters. First found in the waters off Guadalupe Island, Mexico, Deep Blue was immediately recognized as non-aggressive. She has been known to interact with divers and swim alongside people and even dolphins.

What is the Largest Great White Shark Found Off the US Waters

A National Geographic documentary crew spotted the affectionately named Deep Blue off Hawaii’s coast in 2019. Since the so-called largest great white shark alive today doesn’t technically have a regional designation, she can be included here. As for a verified list of the largest great white sharks ever found off U.S. waters, there are many entries,

A great white was seen off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, in 2019 and mistaken for Deep Blue. The gigantic creature also measures around 20 feet and has been nicknamed Haole Girl. Other largest great white sharks around the U.S. are typically found along the eastern and southern coasts from New Jersey down to the Gulf of Mexico. These great whites measure much closer to the average adult size, from 11-15 feet in length.

What Sharks Can You Catch in Victoria?

Very few people have attempted to catch a great white shark, and since they are protected in Victoria, they can’t be included here anyway. Most commonly, you can catch mako sharks in Victoria waters. Other types of sharks you can catch in Victoria include bronze whalers, hammerheads, and blue sharks. The best places to fish for sharks around Victoria are the waters along Great Ocean Road, Port Phillip Bay, and Western Port.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Vincent Legrand/Shutterstock.com