A great white shark, an endangered species, has been spotted in the Mediterranean Sea

In the Camargue, passengers on a tourist boat saw a great white shark swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. This endangered species is protected all over the world.

Monday, September 12, around 8 a.m., boaters had an unexpected encounter in the Camargue natural park. On board a tourist boat, they saw a fin in the water.

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As they got closer, they found that the latter belonged to a great White shark . The animal stayed five minutes near the boat, which allowed tourists to film this encounter.

A great white shark in the Mediterranean

Spotted just 5 kilometers from Port-Saint-Louis, this great white shark would be a female which would be five meters long.

“On the video, there are bite marks and teeth marks all over the body of the animal which indicate that the animal is a female that was bitten during mating. These are love bites. Typically, it is a Mediterranean great white shark with a more brownish color on the back. , explained Nicolas Ziani, from the Phocaean Group for the Study of Sharks.

Thanks to its large size and strong hunting instinct, the large shark white is one of the largest predators in the Mediterranean. The animal feeds on bluefin tuna, swordfish, dolphins, other sharks and sometimes squid and turtles.

A protected species threatened with extinction

The great white shark is an endangered species in the Mediterranean. For this reason, it has been placed among the protected species in France and in the world. The chance of seeing a great white shark was therefore very rare for boaters, and this encounter could be a sign of hope for the species.

“This is a very rare sighting in a sector of the Mediterranean where the species is generally not the most abundant, which possibly indicates a return in times to come of the species in the Mediterranean. In this maritime region where the great white shark had practically disappeared for almost two centuries, we can measure a repopulation which seems progressive of this fundamental predator for the Mediterranean. , said the Phocaean Group for the Study of Sharks.

Photo credit: iStock

Recently, more and more bluefin tuna have also been observed in the Mediterranean Sea. Their presence could explain that of the great white shark seen on Monday, which traveled to the area to feed during its gestation period.