When one thinks of great white shark habitat, several areas of the globe spring to mind. The waters surrounding Australia would probably top the list. Close behind would be the coastal area off Dyer Island, South Africa and the cool Pacific waters off the northern California coast. Other areas like the northeastern Atlantic coastline of the United States or the waters off of New Zealand, Japan, or Chile might be mentioned. Very few would think to mention the Gulf of Mexico as great white shark habitat. Fewer still would guess that one of the largest, if not the largest, great white sharks ever caught would have been pulled from the warm waters of the Gulf. That is precisely the case, however. As I have mentioned here before, the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) does, at least infrequently, prowl the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This would include areas off the Texas coast as far south as Corpus Christi and Padre Island. These big fish are present often enough to warrant recognition from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. If that revelation makes you a bit nervous just wait…it is about to get worse.
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