A moment he will remember for a long time. An amateur fisherman from Toulon had the chance to observe and then film a great white shark at the beginning of November when he headed towards Porquerolles (Var) for a solo fishing trip. More precisely, he saw the hero of “Jaws” in the waters of the Port-Cros national park, east of Porquerolles, 600 m off Pointe du Sarranier, around 11 a.m.
An unusual encounter, as Nicolas Ziani, scientific manager of the Phocaean Shark Study Group, explains to us. “This shark report is a rare sighting. This is the second since September 2022, when a female was spotted in the Camargue.”
794 white sharks in the Mediterranean
However, great white sharks are indeed present in the Mediterranean. “We have 794 white sharks counted to date in the Mediterranean Sea,” he says, recalling that these are only estimates. According to him, they are distributed throughout the Mediterranean, but are most often found in the north-western basin and the central basin. “It’s true that the majority of observations are made in the northwest basin, but not here. More towards Sardinia and the Balearic Islands,” explains Nicolas Ziani.
If we therefore observe them in warmer waters, it is not particularly for these reasons that we find them in these places, if we are to believe the scientist. “It’s not just the heat. It’s more a question of a favorable environment, that is to say in rich and densely populated environments,” he explains.
This is why it is “very good ecological news, beyond this sensational information”, according to Nicolas Ziani. “The great white shark means we are at the top of the food chain. It was seen twice in areas under protection, so it is a good indicator of the protection and reconstruction system. The white shark, which is the maximus predatorwill operate on all populations to balance, that’s its role,” explains the shark expert from the Phocaean Shark Study Group.
A shark that chooses its zones
“This is superb news for this species, classified as critically endangered and having almost disappeared from the Mediterranean,” rejoiced Matthieu Lapinski, president of the Ailerons association. Indeed, as the NGO Emergences points out, “from 1989 to 1998, 85 observations were recorded, and only 46 between 1999 to 2008”, a drop of 45%.
If the species is on the verge of extinction, these rare observations can also be explained by the fact that the great white shark is selective. “It’s an animal that chooses the places it goes. Unlike the blue shark, which is curious and will search everywhere, the white shark goes to more deserted places, more abundant in food, and tries to avoid humans. Interactions are rare,” concludes Nicolas Ziani.
