Share to ClassroomDivers Film First Great White Shark
A team of volunteer divers has filmed what may be the first underwater video of a great white shark in the Mediterranean Sea. It happened in May in the Strait of Sicily, between Sicily and Tunisia, far from land. Derk Remmers, a diver with the groups Ghost Diving and Healthy Seas, was removing old fishing nets from a shipwreck when the shark appeared. It came as close as nine feet before swimming away. "My fingers were trembling," Remmers told the BBC.
Great white sharks are sometimes seen at the surface in the Mediterranean, but the animal had never been filmed underwater there before. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says the Mediterranean group of sharks is critically endangered — very close to dying out. Scientists believe years of overfishing are the main reason. Remmers said it is more likely to win the lottery than to see such a shark underwater. Experts said people should not worry, because the shark stayed far from the coast.
Conservationists hope the rare video will push Mediterranean governments to create protected areas at sea. The divers filmed it while removing "ghost nets" — lost fishing gear that traps and kills sea animals. Veronika Mikos of Healthy Seas said the moment showed how much life still lives in these waters.
