Jaws in the Med
Even the slightest hint of a shark, let alone a Great White Shark, in the Mediterranean Sea surprises - even horrifies - the many millions of people who visit this region every year.
Quote from Jaws...
Quint: Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark.
Brody: That shark will rip that cage to pieces! |
There are plenty of Sharks found in the Mediterranean, in fact approximately 46 different species of shark - 16 of them measuring three or more meters in length, and 15 being potentially dangerous species
which include the Great White Shark - make the occasional encounter with humans.
Although the Mediterranean barely makes up 0.7% of the world's total water surface, the amount of people seeking rest and relaxation there, in addition to those seeking to make a living, is enormous and in no way compares to its relative geographical surface area.
Historically, Great White sharks are reasonably well known to live in the Mediterranean Sea, even to the extent that some authorities have suggested that certain parts of the Med may be a breeding ground for this fish, although they seem more sporadic nowadays.
Great White attacks and interaction with humans in the Mediterranean
The white shark has long been a focus for negative media attention, generated by its sometimes lethal interactions with humans and boats, including within the Mediterranean Sea from where attacks on humans by this species were first documented.
Quote from Jaws...
Quint: Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark.
Brody: That shark will rip that cage to pieces! |
It is worthwhile delving into more detail on the increasing media popularity of the theme "sharks in the Mediterranean" and looking at
a few real life cases of Human - Great White Shark interaction in the
Mediterranean.
Perhaps the most notable attack in this region which won worldwide media attention was the puzzling death of the scuba diver, Luciano Costanzo.
It was quite obvious that he died as a result of an unprovoked attack of a white shark on February 2, 1989, in the Golf of Baratti near Piombino on the Toscana coast in Italy.
This single incident repeatedly turned up in the media and was even published with four-coloured prints in such normally conservative magazines as the "Times" in London.
In fact, "bloody" headlines appeared overall in Europe.
The general increased interest of the worldwide media in the white shark has in turn resulted in more attention being given to this species in the Mediterranean - including the rare attacks on swimmers and boats.
In September 1998, shortly before this article was published, a very large white shark (approx. 5.5 m in length) was filmed with a video camera from a sport fishing boat 35 km off the coast of Senigallia as it swam along the Italian Adriatic seacoast.
This encounter was described and published under the description "shark attack".
In reality, however, a hungry white shark tried to snatch a caught and already dead shark right from under the nose of an inattentive fisher.
The journalists completely ignored the unique fact highlighting this shark report, namely that it was the first white shark ever to be filmed alive in the Mediterranean.
For producers of animal documentaries, this was, however, an important theme so they hurried to obtain the film rights.
It's worthwhile providing some background information on this particular case, for in the past decades, mostly between August and September, white sharks had already been observed in the same region off the Adriatic coast: For example, in 1989 a large animal - called Willie - was repeatedly seen in the waters off Rimini; in 1986 a sport boat was attacked in the Po delta; in 1977 a scientific platform off Venice was rammed in a strange way; and in Riccione in 1986 an Austrian spear fisherman was attacked and injured.
Despite these historically based facts many reports describe - somewhat awkwardly - the 1998 filmed white shark as "the first white shark sighted in Adriatic waters".
So much for researching facts.
In general terms Human and Great White interaction in the Mediterranean is limited.
Great Whites are caught accidentally annually, (bluefin tuna and swordfish), by fixed-traps (Tonnara), harpoon, gill-nets and set-lines; smaller specimens by longlines at the surface and on the bottom; juveniles taken by bottom trawls down to 200m in the Sicilian Channel.
They are sometimes directly hunted (usually with little success), mainly off Italy in the wake of fatal or injurious shark attacks; also sought as a
game fish on a short-term basis following repeated sightings of assumedly single individuals
Encounters between divers and large white sharks at Sicilian Channel sites (e.g., at Pantelleria, Malta, S.W. Marretimo) demonstrate that these sharks will more readily investigate divers and depart without any mode of physical contact.
Distribution of the Great White in the Mediterranean Sea:
White Spots show the sightings
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