Editing Great white shark (section)

=== Reproduction ===
Great white sharks were previously thought to reach sexual maturity at around 15 years of age, but are now believed to take far longer; male great white sharks reach sexual maturity at age 26, while females take 33 years to reach sexual maturity.<ref name="livescience.com" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Natural History of the White Shark |url=http://www.prbo.org/cms/176 |date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703015943/http://www.prbo.org/cms/176 |archive-date=3 July 2013 |publisher=PRBO Conservation Science}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.inquisitr.com/1909550/legendary-great-white-shark-was-just-a-teenager-when-killed-new-research-reveals/ |title=Legendary Great White Shark Was Just A Teenager When Killed, New Research Reveals |work=The Inquisitr News |date=9 March 2015 |access-date=3 April 2015 |archive-date=25 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625010533/http://www.inquisitr.com/1909550/legendary-great-white-shark-was-just-a-teenager-when-killed-new-research-reveals/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Maximum life span was originally believed to be more than 30 years, but a study by the [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]] placed it at upwards of 70 years. Examinations of vertebral growth ring count gave a maximum male age of 73 years and a maximum female age of 40 years for the specimens studied. The shark's late sexual maturity, low reproductive rate, long gestation period of 11 months and slow growth make it vulnerable to pressures such as overfishing and environmental change.<ref name="sciencedaily.com" />

Little is known about the great white shark's [[mating]] habits, and mating behaviour had not been observed in this species until 1997 and properly documented in 2020. It was assumed previously to be possible that whale carcasses are an important location for sexually mature sharks to meet for mating.<ref name="KrkosekFallows2013" /> According to the testimony of fisherman Dick Ledgerwood, who observed two great white sharks mating in the area near Port Chalmers and Otago Harbor, in New Zealand, it is theorized that great white sharks mate in shallow water away from feeding areas and continually roll belly to belly during copulation.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/04/rolling-and-rolling-and-rolling-the-first-detailed-account-of-great-white-shark-sex |title='Rolling and rolling and rolling': the first detailed account of great white shark sex |first=Eleanor Ainge |last=Roy |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 September 2020 |via=www.theguardian.com |access-date=6 September 2020 |archive-date=6 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906064505/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/04/rolling-and-rolling-and-rolling-the-first-detailed-account-of-great-white-shark-sex |url-status=live}}</ref> Birth has never been observed, but pregnant females have been examined. Great white sharks are [[Ovoviviparity|ovoviviparous]], which means eggs develop and hatch in the uterus and continue to develop until birth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=38 |title=''Carcharodon carcharias'', Great White Sharks |publisher=marinebio.org |access-date=12 August 2011 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505222736/https://www.marinebio.org/wp-content/plugins/akismet/_inc/akismet-frontend.js?ver=1710994783 |url-status=live}}</ref> The great white has an 11-month gestation period. The shark pup's powerful jaws begin to develop in the first month. The unborn sharks participate in [[oophagy]], in which they feed on [[ovum|ova]] produced by the mother. Delivery is in spring and summer.<ref name="www.elasmo-research.org">{{cite web |title=Brief Overview of the Great White Shark (''Carcharodon carcharias'') |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/overview.htm |publisher=Elasmo Research |access-date=20 August 2012 |archive-date=13 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213021033/http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/white_shark/overview.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The largest number of pups recorded for this species is 14 pups from a single mother measuring {{cvt|4.5|m|ft}} that was killed incidentally off Taiwan in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.livescience.com/65058-big-mamma-shark-caught-sold.html |title=Enormous Great White Shark Pregnant with Record 14 Pups Was Caught and Sold in Taiwan |first=Kimberly Hickok 2019-03-22T19:03:40Z |last=Animals |website=livescience.com |date=22 March 2019 |access-date=23 March 2019 |archive-date=23 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323125730/https://www.livescience.com/65058-big-mamma-shark-caught-sold.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 9 July 2023, the first footage of what was likely a newborn great white shark was filmed via aerial drone off of Southern California, off [[Carpinteria]], after a large adult shark was seen diving to the bottom roughly {{convert|1000|ft|m|abbr=on}} from the shoreline, after which the smaller shark rose to the surface. The young shark, estimated up to {{convert|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} long, was pale in colour, possibly due to what may be an embryonic covering, possibly intrauterine milk, was seen sloughing off the skin of the young shark. Adult sharks filmed in the area days prior suggest the area may be a birthing ground for pregnant females. This footage was published in the journal ''Environmental Biology of Fishes'' on 29 January 2024.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Gauna, C. |author2=Sternes, P.C. |date=29 January 2024 |title=Novel aerial observations of a possible newborn white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias'') in Southern California |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=249–254 |doi=10.1007/s10641-024-01512-7|doi-access=free |bibcode=2024EnvBF.107..249G}}</ref> A follow-up study in published in October, 2024 lends further support to the theory that the Carpinteria shark was a newborn; The description and examination of neonate porbeagles with a similar body covering to the young great white suggests that the body covering is not intrauterine milk (which ceases in production mid-gestation), but is instead embryonic epithelium that covers the shark's denticles and rubs off shortly after birth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tomita |first1=Taketeru |last2=Miyamoto |first2=Kei |last3=Nakamura |first3=Masaru |last4=Murakumo |first4=Kiyomi |last5=Toda |first5=Minoru |last6=Sato |first6=Keiichi |date=2024-06-01 |title=Whitish film covering a newborn white shark was not intrauterine material but embryonic epithelium |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10641-024-01560-z |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |language=en |volume=107 |issue=6 |pages=719–722 |doi=10.1007/s10641-024-01560-z |bibcode=2024EnvBF.107..719T |issn=1573-5133}}</ref>