Up to 6 m and 1,900 kg. Southern Australia hosts one of the densest great white populations on Earth, plus key sites in New Zealand and South Africa.

Most unprovoked fatal shark attacks worldwide. Australia averages 2-3 fatalities per year, mostly in WA, SA, NSW. Surfers and divers most at risk.

Temperate coastal waters — South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania, New Zealand.

Migrates thousands of km. Investigative bite often fatal due to size of teeth. Breaches fully out of water hunting seals.

Black spider with prominent red/orange stripe on top of abdomen. Female body 1 cm; males harmless. Australia's most medically important spider.

Alpha-latrotoxin causes 'latrodectism' — severe muscle pain, sweating, hypertension. Antivenom widely available; deaths now extremely rare (1 confirmed death since 1979).

Across all of Australia — sheds, outhouses, mailboxes, garden furniture, under toilet seats (notorious). Now established in NZ, Japan, Belgium.

Builds tangled web in dark dry corners. Female bites only when pressed against skin. Cannibalistic — female eats male during mating (~60% of time).

Stocky, aggressive shark up to 3.5 m. Uniquely tolerant of fresh water — found in Mississippi, Amazon, even Lake Nicaragua.

Top contender for most dangerous shark to humans. Hunts in shallow, murky water — exactly where people swim. Many attacks attributed to 'great whites' are actually bull sharks.

Shallow coastal waters, estuaries, rivers — Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean (Cuba, Bahamas, DR), Lake Nicaragua, Mississippi River, Pacific coasts of Mexico and Central America.

Aggressive and territorial. Tolerates salinity from 0 to 53 ppt. Attacks unprovoked more than other sharks.

Black widow relative. Female 8 mm with red stripe on abdomen. The only native venomous animal in New Zealand. Endangered.

Alpha-latrotoxin causes 'latrodectism' — pain, sweating, hypertension. No deaths since antivenom in 1923. Now extremely rare — only ~5 confirmed bites in last decade.

Endemic to New Zealand coastal sand dunes — North Island, top of South Island. Critically endangered due to habitat loss.

Lives in sparse webs at sand dune base. Female hides under driftwood. Very shy — bites only when pressed against skin.

Not a jellyfish but a colony. Distinctive blue-purple gas float with 30-metre tentacles trailing below. Drifts onto US Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

Excruciatingly painful sting causing whip-like welts. Rarely lethal, but several deaths recorded from heart failure or drowning after shock.

Atlantic and Gulf coasts — Florida, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina; sometimes washes up by the thousands.

Drifts on wind via sail-like float. Cannot swim — entirely passive. Tentacles sting for weeks even after death.

Disc up to 1.5 m with whip-like tail bearing a serrated venomous spine. Common in Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean — popular with tourists at 'Stingray City'.

Stings only defensively when stepped on. Spine drives deep, often breaks off. Steve Irwin's death is a textbook example of chest impalement.

Sandy and muddy bottoms of Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, southeastern US Atlantic coast.

Buries in sand. The 'stingray shuffle' (sliding feet) prevents most stings. Eats clams, shrimp.

Largest dolphin — up to 9 m and 6 tons. Apex predator of the oceans. Since 2020, a pod off Iberia has been deliberately ramming and sinking sailboats.

No fatal attacks on humans in the wild ever recorded — but as of 2024, over 700 boat ramming incidents and 4 sailboats sunk off Spain and Portugal. Direct human risk: drowning during shipwreck.

All European waters — Atlantic, Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean (rare), Norwegian Sea, North Sea. Iberian pod active off Spain, Portugal.

Highly intelligent, social — pods of 5-30. Teach each other behaviours culturally. The boat-ramming is being learned by new generations.