White shark in Mediterranean near Croatia

popac said:

The shark(GWS) was spoted by a local diver just 20m offshore near the town of Pula several weeks ago.I doubt that there were two GWS since those animals are solitary and the Adriatic sea is far from their breeding grounds.I've never heard of a GWS visiting the waters of the Adriatic sea so far.The most common shark in the Adriatic is the blue shark which is often seen in the Adriatic and the Med. A 4m shark,it sounds like an adult shark which by now should have it's own and comon feeding grounds like the rest of the GWS's.

Anyway,keep in mind those GWS

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I've never heard of a GWS visiting the waters of the Adriatic sea so far.

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• Albeit rare, the species is well-known from the Adriatic Sea, but occurs more frequently amongst the islands and gulfs that flank Croatia, between Pula and Split. Until circa 1960, adult great whites would be caught in Croatian waters by fishermen harvesting giant bluefin tuna - a favoured prey of Mediterranean great whites - but in more recent decades, their numbers have declined dramatically as overfishing and pollution has degraded the Northern Adriatic. This recent great white is the first to be seen and definitively identified there since the summer of 1993.

• Based on available evidence, their apparent decline in the Mediterranean is NOT related to global warming, as suggested by some newsmedia earlier today. Current research suggests that declines in their population has been more directly related to overfishing of favoured prey, especially bluefin tuna, alongside general environmental degradation of coastal Mediterranean habitats (a facet which is all too apparent in the Adriatic itself). There is no estimate of the number of great whites currently living within the Mediterranean; media quotes citing a figure of "5000" are complete conjecture.

The Mediterranean White Shark Database lists other specimens and related incidents over the past three decades from the northern-central Adriatic, which offer some index of relative abundance. For example:-

• August 1993: A female great white, measuring 5 metres in length, is caught by fishermen off Sibenik, Croatia

• July 1993: A great white shark, described as "large" by fishermen, is observed in the waters around Losinj Island, in Croatia's Kvarner Gulf.

• March, 1992: A young specimen, 2.3 metres long, is caught in nets off Termoli, on Italy's Adriatic coast.

• December, 1991: A youngster of 2.1 metres in length is caught by commercial fishermen off the coast at Ancona, on Italy's Adriatic coast.

• September 1989: 'Willie', measuring over five metres in length, puts in an appearance off Pesaro, Italy, while sport anglers fish for tuna offshore. She breaks their lines and circles the boats everal times. The same shark is seen repeatedly that summer elsewhere along the same part of the coast.

• August, 1974: A young German holidaymaker, Ralph Schneider, is fatally bitten by a white shark as he swims just off the coast at Omis, near Split, Croatia.

• September 1971: A Polish tourist, Stanislaw Klepka, is fatally attacked while swimming off the coast at Ika, near Opatija, Croatia.

• July 1966: Austrian tourist Manfred Gregor is seriously injured during a non-fatal attack by a 4.5 metre great white as he spearfishes with friends just off the beach at the resort of Riccione, near Rimini, Italy.

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