A group of volunteer divers in the Mediterranean recorded an extremely rare moment: an adult great white shark in its natural habitat, at a depth of around 40 metres, between Sicily and Tunisia.
The team was in the area on a mission to remove abandoned fishing nets from a shipwreck when the shark appeared out of the blue. According to the divers, the animal approached and moved around the group without displaying aggressive behaviour before swimming away.
The video is considered particularly important, as sightings of great white sharks in the Mediterranean are rare. Until now, much of the knowledge about their presence in the region came from dead individuals that had been caught in fishing gear. Experts stress that such recordings help improve understanding of the distribution and behaviour of a species considered threatened in the Mediterranean.
In Greece, the sharks most commonly observed are mainly mako sharks, blue sharks and sixgill sharks, while the last shark attack in the country took place 45 years ago.
The shark’s presence also highlights a broader environmental problem: so-called “ghost nets”, meaning abandoned or lost fishing gear that continues to trap and kill marine animals, such as fish, sea turtles and potentially larger predators.
In Greece, the sharks most frequently observed are the mako shark, the blue shark and the sixgill shark, which lives at great depths. Sightings have been recorded in several marine areas, including the Ionian Sea, the Saronic Gulf, the Pagasetic Gulf, Halkidiki, the Dodecanese and waters south of Crete. However, attacks remain extremely rare: the last attack in the country was recorded around 45 years ago, while the last fatal one occurred around 60 years ago.
Sources: Euronews, Lifo
What is fyi.news?
