As the name implies, these monsters, which can grow to a whopping six metres from end to end, have a head that resembles a hammer. The strange head shape helps to extend the peripheral vision of the hammerhead and adds sensory ability to the nose. That, in turn, makes the shark far more sensitive to underwater movements and helps it chase and track pray.
Blacktip sharks are often mistaken for their much-larger brother the great white. However, they are around a quarter of the size when fully grown, and have very distinct black markings at the top of their dorsal and back fins — hence the name.
The Med is considered the perfect habitat for the elegant blacktip. The reason? These guys like shallower waters of up to 30m in total. They also congregate around coastlines where there are muddy lagoons and sandbanks, and can even occupy brackish water. Sadly, blacktip sharks are on the endangered list. The Basking shark is a whole different kettle of fish see what we did there? Instead of the hulking chompers of a great white, it has tiny teeth.
Instead of a lust for blood and meat, it dines on plankton and organic matter. Yep, the basking shark is a filter feeder. It cruises through the seas with an open mouth and picks up anything with nutritious value along the way, filtering out excess water and waste using huge gills. Basking sharks can be found throughout the whole of the Mediterranean, although their locations are unpredictable.
The only sightings of dusky sharks in the Mediterranean Sea have been in the western Med. There, they regularly move between the cooler waters of the Portuguese Algarve, the Strait of Gibraltar and the shores of North Africa. They look rather fierce and can grow to nearly four metres around the same as an adult male great white , but rarely attack humans without provocation.
The species is listed as critically endangered. Conservation efforts are now underway, with a strong focus on reducing trafficked wildlife meat on the global black market. The Mediterranean Sea is actually up there with the safest seas in the world. There are…. For starters, you always need to be wary of the pitfalls of swimming in open water. Look for the flags on the sand or buoys in the water.
When it comes to sharks, the Med also makes for some sobering stats reading. There have been hundreds yes — hundreds! Spain and Italy have the most foreboding numbers, with 35 and 50 attacks respectively. Over 10 of those were fatal in the home of pizza and pasta, too! Blue sharks have a high reproduction rate compared to other species of shark.
They can begin to reproduce at only years old and can deliver a litter of up to pups at a time, which explains why they are one of the most common sharks in the Mediterranean. Despite that, though, even this once abundant species is becoming a much rarer sight, and the species has been listed as critically endangered within the region since Considered the most dangerous shark in the world, the great white is responsible for the most unprovoked attacks on humans, not to mention the most fatalities overall.
These ocean monsters can grow to 20 foot in length, weigh up to two tons, and manage top speeds of up to 16 miles per hour. Oh, and, yes, great white sharks do live in the Mediterranean Sea. Any sighting of a great white understandably causes panic, especially when spotted near tourist areas. So, when one was sighted off the coast of Mallorca in , it made headlines all over the continent and really rattled the local travel industry. This was the first confirmed sighting in Spanish waters for at least 30 years, but there have been sightings elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
An encounter in Croatia in led to a man being bitten on the leg by a great white. Amazingly, the incident was not fatal. Some scientists believe that the Mediterranean, specifically the Strait of Sicily, serves as a nursery where great white sharks can birth and raise their young.
This theory has received confirmation by the sighting of both pregnant and young great whites and would mean that the Med is not just a habitat for great white sharks but vital to the survival of the species as a whole.
For those who actually want to see some sharks, listen up! Although the purpose of this once-a-year shark moot remains unclear, it is thought to be related to their mating patterns. Whatever the reason, since this species is increasingly rare, this is a unique opportunity to see an animal currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.
And for anyone who accidentally sees one, not to worry…These sharks are not considered to be in any way dangerous to humans. There are no recorded incidents of attacks. In fact, when threatened, these sharks are known to turn their back and take flight, shaking their tails rather than gritting their teeth at any threat. When the grey nurse shark went on the conservation list in Australia, they added the smalltooth sand tiger shark along with it to prevent one species from being mistaken for the other.
Thus, the smalltooth was officially protected thanks to a case of mistaken identity! This shark has the dubious claim to fame of being the first shark ever to be listed as a protected species. Unfortunately, despite having been on the protected list since , its numbers are still very low, and the grey shark is still considered a vulnerable species in the Med. The grey nurse shark is one of the most fearsome-looking sharks living in the Mediterranean Sea.
It has a bulky body, can grow up to 10 feet long, and has multiple rows of vicious-looking teeth that form sort of inward-bent daggers in multiple rows. However, this alarming appearance masks a slow-moving, docile nature.
Chances of you seeing one are fairly low, however. Not only are they endangered, but grey nurse sharks are most active at night. During the day, they mainly linger under rocky shelves and in submerged grottoes. They feed primarily on crustaceans and bottom-dwelling fish such as rays and skates, although they are known to eat other, smaller shark species, too.
They especially like to be close to coves, lagoons, and coral reefs, rather than out in the open ocean. Yep, black tips are one of the most commonly seen species in the region. Not the biggest of sharks, they only grow to an average of feet. But they are powerful, fast swimmers, and very athletic; they often leap out of the water after their prey. Read: how the ultimate shark photo went viral. Are there great white sharks in the Mediterranean? Little is known about them, but they have probably been there for a very long time.
And there was once probably a lot more of them. What is believed to be the first documented shark attack of any kind was in the Mediterranean, recorded on a vase found in Naples and dated to BC. All of which paints a portrait of sharks not only being noticed, but abundant — and human-shark conflict, too. An image from the Icones Animalium, published in Rome in , shows what is believed to be a stricken seafarer being attacked by sharks, and a giant ray.
Images of sharks from ancient times to the middle ages show a chequered approach to the perception of sharks, with many drawings distorted or inaccurate. But even the most ancient accounts reveal conflict between sharks and humans in the Mediterranean — which has been surrounded by seafaring nations since the dawn of modern civilisation — dating back to BC.
The grisliest case came in , when a 4. But as damning a picture as this paints, these remains — of a man, a woman and child — were thought to have been victims of a recent tsunami caused by the Messina earthquake , and not necessarily victims of a shark.
In addition, the creature was found to contain the remains of a dog and a cow. Overall, the broader picture of shark attacks in modern times in the Mediterranean is notably low — particularly given the relatively small volume of water and the huge numbers of people who use it for recreation and utility.
But the presence of the most notorious one of all off the costas is still a spine-tingling thought. And our chances are probably dwindling, as the consensus amongst experts are the populations of this demanding predator are — like many other species in the Mediterranean — likely in decline. Tune in to the biggest SharkFest ever, spanning July. Logging sharks is a tricky business, beset with the difficulties of any quantitative analysis that relies on qualitative sources.
To aid research for his book, De Maddalena created the Italian Great White Shark Data Bank , an ongoing project which aims to catalogue every witnessed appearance of the shark in the Mediterranean, from the Middle Ages to the present. Typically these were sightings of sailors, fishermen, divers, researchers and military personnel — but also included more lateral sources of public record, such as bounties paid for the shark, paintings depicting altercations or other evidence of its presence — such as bite marks in whale carcasses.
These were then cross-checked against the morphology and behaviour of the shark to rule out mistaken identity, and fortified with records from other sources, such as the Global Shark Attack File GSAF based in Princeton, New York. A sign warning bathers of the presence of great white sharks off Lighthouse Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
In the U. Australia had 18 unprovoked attacks — but six fatalities. Another consideration with room for doubt, is size.
Reports of specific great whites caught by anglers — either on purpose, or by accident — in the Mediterranean over the years form a key part of the log. And while many are subject to pride-inflated dimensions by those who caught them, several specimens have been measured reliably enough to suggest the sharks in the Mediterranean are particularly hefty by great white standards.
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