🐬 Bottlenose dolphin vs Great white shark 🦈
The great white shark is about twice as long as the bottlenose dolphin. The great white shark weighs about 5 times as much as the bottlenose dolphin.
| Row | 🐬 Bottlenose dolphin | 🦈 Great white shark |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed We don't have a checked number for the bottlenose dolphin yet. | no checked number yet | 35 mph56 km/h1 |
| Weight The great white shark weighs about 5 times as much as the bottlenose dolphin. | 300 to 1,400 lb136 to 635 kg2 | 2 tons1.8 tonnes3 |
| Lives They are about the same. | 40 to 60 years40 to 60 years2 | 30 to 70 years30 to 70 years3 |
| Eats The bottlenose dolphin eats fish; the great white shark eats meat. | fish, squid and shrimp | seals, sea lions, fish and dead whales |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | warm and mild seas all over the world, near the shore and far out | cool coastal seas around the world |
Which one? Bottlenose dolphin or great white shark
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the bottlenose dolphin yet, so there is no race.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
Compare two more
Getting the animals ready…
📤 Share this pair
The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/bottlenose-dolphin-vs-great-white-shark
Where these numbers come from
- NOAA Science On a Sphere, checked 30 October 2026.
- NOAA Fisheries, checked 30 October 2026.
- NOAA Fisheries, checked 30 October 2026.