The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, also known as great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. The great white shark is very well known for its size, because it can exceed 6 metres in length and 2,240 kilograms in weight. It becomes sexually mature at around 15 years of age and has a lifespan of 30 to over 100 yearsMore than any documented attack, Peter Benchley's best selling novel Jaws and the subsequent 1975 film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg provided the great white shark with the image of a "man eater" in the public mind.While great white sharks have killed a few humans, they typically do not target them: for example, in the Mediterranean Sea there have been 31 confirmed attacks against humans in the last two centuries, most non-fatal. Many incidents seem to be "test-bites". Great white sharks also test-bite buoys, flotsam, and other unfamiliar objects, and might grab a human or a surfboard to identify it. The great white shark is arguably the world's largest known predatory fish, eating dolphins, porpoises, whale carcasses and pinnipeds such as seals and sea lions. It is the only surviving species of its genus, Carcharodon.