Laurence Dollimore
SPANISH researchers are investigating the presence of great white sharks in the waters off northern Spain.
While the animals are more often found in warmer, tropical waters, they also inhabit the Mediterranean Sea.
However, little is known about their populations in the Med where, like many other species, they are in critical danger of extinction due to overfishing, pollution and destruction of their habitat.
Enter US research company Ocearch, which has teamed up with Spain’s Fundacion Oceanografic to study the great white in the Med in a bid to help protect it.
While they tend to be among the most feared animals in the world, the truth is humans present more of a threat to great whites than they do to us.
The last time such a specimen was sighted in Spanish waters was in 2018.
Measuring five metres long, the shark was spotted off the coast of Cabrera, by the scientific expedition Alnitak.
Despite no sightings since, it is believed the great white is still lurking in the waters off northern Spain.
On July 29, in search of the great white, the Save the Mediterranean Expedition left the port of Vigo towards the Bay of Biscay and arrived in Bilbao on August 10.
The investigation aimed to cover maritime areas where the shark has been spotted in the past.
“The presence of sharks on the Cantabrian coast is normal, but it is not common to see them, since there are very few specimens,” researcher Pablo Garcia told El Correo.
They want to find at least one shark and carry out a 15-minute evaluation.
This includes taking samples of body fluids, muscle tissue and organisms living on the animal’s skin – as well as measuring it.
However they did not find a great white in their latest search, only coming across a three-metre blue shark.
The experts are focusing on the waters off Galicia because they believe there could be a great white ‘nursery’ in there, where female specimens leave their young and let them learn how to feed, navigate and avoid predators.
Expert Pablo Garcia Salinas told El Pais: “The females in the Atlantic could be using the Mediterranean as a kind of nursery: they would go there to give birth and, when the pups grew, they would leave through the Strait of Gibraltar.”
He said the main reason is that ‘some species of large marine animals choose bays and other protected areas, with fewer predators, for the pups to spend their first months or years of life.’
