Breathing and Gas Transport
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Sharks do not have lungs however they do need to breathe oxygen to survive. Sharks get oxygen from the water that surrounds them. Sharks have developed a way to breathe as much oxygen as they can. The concentration of oxygen in water is much lower than air. Breathing begins and ends in the gills. In the gills, it extracts oxygen from water and gets rid of any carbon dioxide in their bodies.
Process:
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Water passes over the gills, allows oxygen to enter their bloodstream
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Oxygenated blood is pumped throughout the body.
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Blood enters the heart and is pumped into their gills. After this, carbon dioxide is released and then the process starts all over again.
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Sharks get water in their gills by swimming and moving through the water, while resting on the bottom of the ocean, sharks might hold water in their cheek and pump it over their gills.
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Oxygen levels depend on the depth that the great white shark is at.
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Higher oxygen levels, higher at the surface of the ocean. Lower oxygen levels in deeper water.
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Depending on the size of the shark, the bigger the shark the more oxygen that is required.
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Some sharks have been able to adapt to oxygen low conditions
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Sharks depend on oxygen-rich water to keep them alive. A threat to this species is declining oxygen levels in the ocean.
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Low oxygen areas are causing organisms to die.
"The higher-oxygen surface waters are important for active species of sharks and their prey, so a reduction in 'vertical habitat' could restrict their access not only to food, but also to cooler deeper waters to regulate their body temperature."- https://www.lung.org/blog/sharks-need-oxygen-too