It was a boater who spotted the animal in the water off the islands of Porquerolles and Port-Cros in the Var and who filmed it swimming at the beginning of November: a white shark 4 meters long. The species was confirmed by the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) in Paris and the Phocaean Shark Study Group (GPER).
On the images posted on Facebook on the page “Porquerolles and its surroundings”we can see the shark approaching the boat with its fin. A very rare event, the great white shark does not often roam these waters. Since 1600, around forty specimens have been reported in the Gulf of Lionaccording to GPER data. The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is a species classified as “critically endangered” on the European Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Not yet an adult
“The individual observed off Port-Cros is indeed a great white shark, I think that it's a young one, not a juvenile, but not yet an adult“said Nicolas Ziani, scientific director of GPER, to France 3 Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur. “It is a little smaller than the female we observed in the Camargue”underlines Nicolas Ziani. “All observations are good for us to take.”
In 2022, a female shark of almost 5 meters had been observed in the Camargue. “It’s quite extraordinary”adds François Sarano, doctor in oceanography, contacted by the Radio France agency. “It is both moving to see that they have not completely disappeared from this Mediterranean where they were very abundant. And then, if we make a big deal of it, it is because there are very “Unfortunately, this will not bring back to the sea the extremely large population that there was around fifty years ago in the Mediterranean.”.
Don't be afraid
The professional diver, (François Sarano) “advises everyone not to be afraid, but on the contrary to go and see these extraordinary animals”. The one who was the scientific advisor to Commander Cousteau, repeatedly recalls his “unbelievable happiness” to have “swam freely” with great white sharks “in South Africa and also in the waters of the Pacific”. “It gives peace, it gives infinite happiness”, describes François Sarano: “It feels like we’re alive among the living.”
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