Source : Perth Now news
A diver has captured what could be the first underwater footage of an adult great white shark in its natural Mediterranean habitat.
Derk Remmers was one of three divers in the water between Sicily and Tunisia when the enormous predator suddenly appeared near a shipwreck where his team was working.
The Healthy Seas conservation group had been recovering abandoned fishing nets from the wreck in the Strait of Sicily when the rare encounter unfolded.
Mr Remmers told BBC News: “We saw this huge shark – it was pretty clear it was a massive one.
“It looked and appeared to be a white shark.”
The shark swam close to the divers before disappearing and then returning for another look.
He said: “The shark was there pretty close to the wreck – pretty close to us, in fact. It swam away, turned around and came back.”
Rather than fearing the shark, Mr Remmers admitted his biggest concern was missing the moment on camera.
He said: “I think my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to get the camera running, that I couldn’t record this rare event.”
Mr Remmers stressed the sighting should not alarm beachgoers.
He said: “It is important to me that no one gets scared, because it was offshore, it was in the central Mediterranean, it was not close to a beach where people could feel endangered.
“This might very well be the first underwater footage of an adult white shark in its own habitat in the Mediterranean… it sank in a little bit that this was pretty special.”
The sighting comes as conservationists warn Mediterranean great whites are teetering on the brink of extinction.
Research by conservation group Blue Marine Foundation suggests at least 40 great white sharks were killed and sold for food in North African markets last year alone.
The Shark Trust classifies Mediterranean great whites as critically endangered, with sightings extremely rare.
Paul Cox, chief executive of The Shark Trust, is quoted by The Telegraph as saying: “We’ve long known of the presence of great white sharks in the Mediterranean. The video shared on World Oceans Day of them in the Straits of Sicily is exciting.
“It suggests that, perhaps, despite the challenges faced by the regional population, these extraordinary animals are managing to maintain a foothold in the region.”
Healthy Seas director Veronika Mikos added to the outlet: “What makes this encounter so powerful is not only the shark itself, but the context in which it happened.
“We were there to remove ghost nets trapping marine life on a shipwreck ecosystem that is a hotspot for biodiversity. Moments like this remind us how much life can still exist in offshore Mediterranean waters.”
