For the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, an adult white shark was captured and recorded on video underwater in its natural habitat. The rare footage was captured during an environmental expedition to remove abandoned fishing nets in the Strait of Sicily and has already attracted the attention of scientists as the species is considered critically endangered in the region, Reuters reports.
The video was recorded by technical diver Derk Remmers. According to him, the team noticed a large fish at a depth of about 40 meters, after which they realized that in front of them was a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) – one of the rarest large predators in the Mediterranean Sea. At that moment, divers were clearing the sunken ship of abandoned fishing nets.
As The Times and ITV note, this may be the first ever underwater filming of an adult white shark in the Mediterranean Sea. Previously, the animals were observed from boats or recorded at the surface of the water, but researchers were unable to obtain such footage.
The white shark is considered a critically endangered species in the Mediterranean Sea. According to Reuters, scientists attribute the population decline to intensive fishing, accidental capture and degradation of marine ecosystems.
Scientists note that Mediterranean white sharks are a genetically distinct population that practically does not mix with sharks of the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, each confirmed observation is of great importance for research and conservation programs.
Earlier, RTVI.US reported that dark sharks, which were considered an almost extinct species, were spotted off the coast of the United States. Their numbers declined sharply at the end of the last century due to intensive fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
