All articles tagged with #great white sharks
Great white sharks are increasingly appearing in Canada’s Atlantic waters, driven by warming oceans that have expanded seal populations. While sightings in Nova Scotia have surged, experts note that most sharks are transient visitors rather than permanent residents. Recent non-fatal attacks have prompted caution among divers, though the risk remains low.
Cape Cod’s growing population of great white sharks is transforming the seaside into a thriving ecotourism hub, with shark-spotting charters, citizen-science trips, and the Sharktivity app guiding visitors and supporting research; the region’s tourism economy has expanded to roughly $2.8 billion, safety warnings remain in place, and experts say shark behavior hasn’t become more aggressive, a change linked in part to the recovery of gray seals.
A Scarborough lifeguard was dragged 5–6 feet underwater by a shark that seized his rescue torpedo; he freed himself and swam to shore as the beach was briefly closed, with ongoing shark sightings prompting safety advisories along Maine’s coast.
Officials warned beachgoers after roughly seven to eleven juvenile great white sharks were spotted off Pine Point Beach in Scarborough, Maine over 48 hours, with some individuals reaching about 12 feet. The sightings, described as unprecedented for the area by local officials, caused monitoring and safety advisories, but there were no reported injuries or aggressive shark interactions; bathers were urged to stay near shore and exit the water if sharks or large baitfish/seals are seen.
Contender, the Atlantic’s largest tagged male great white (about 1,700 pounds and more than 13 feet long), is continuing its northward migration and could reach Cape Cod; a July satellite ping confirmed it remains active, though its exact location isn’t known, highlighting how tracking helps map shark movements and assess beach safety.
A 12-foot, 1,009-pound female great white named Ernst has been tracked off Montauk, moving north toward Cape Cod, with researchers suggesting an even larger great white, Contender, may be following along the East Coast, potentially passing by Long Island this summer and prompting increased shark patrols amid rising sightings and bites.
Researchers tracing great white shark migrations found that the so-called White Shark Café, a remote open-ocean corridor between Baja California and Hawaii, hosts a surprisingly rich deep-water food web. In 2018, a voyage equipped with advanced tags revealed abundant life at depths satellites can’t reach, suggesting the area serves as a feeding and possibly mating ground. The discovery turns the Café from a mythical ‘desert’ into a real ecological hotspot, underscoring the need for protection of high-seas habitats.
A drone video from Manhattan Beach captures surfers paddling on a small wave with a great white shark lurking nearby, illustrating rising near‑shore shark sightings along Southern California as water temperatures warm and El Niño-like patterns emerge, with scientists warning of a potentially sharkier summer even though bites remain rare.
Wildlife photographer Chris Fallows, famed for dramatic great white shark breaches off False Bay and his iconic Air Jaws image, discusses his career and the sharks’ decline there on 60 Minutes Overtime. He explains how the once abundant population fell about a decade ago, catalyzing his conservation work with his wife, including habitat restoration in South Africa and Namibia, and notes signs of recovery in other marine life like humpback whales while urging personal responsibility to protect fragile ecosystems.
60 Minutes reports that great white sharks off Cape Town have vanished, sparking a scientific dispute over whether orcas are preying on them (evidenced by surgical‑style bite marks and necropsies showing liver predation) or humans—via longlining and shark nets—are depleting prey and killing sharks; the piece follows the orca pair Port and Starboard and argues for nonlethal protections and smarter, balanced ocean management, while some scientists say the population may be stable and the mystery persists.
A juvenile great white was caught off eastern Spain in 2023, triggering a study that documents sporadic sightings in the Mediterranean and suggests sharks may transit Spanish waters along with Atlantic bluefin tuna. With the Mediterranean population classified as Critically Endangered and genetics distinct from Atlantic sharks, protecting bluefin tuna and advancing regional conservation could improve the sharks’ prospects as researchers reassess potential breeding grounds and corridors in the region.
A study of nearly 100 great white sharks shows their teeth change across the jaw and as they grow: juvenile teeth are slender with cusplets for gripping small prey, but around 3 meters they shed cusplets and develop broader, serrated teeth for slicing; the front teeth are thicker ‘impact’ teeth while upper and lower teeth specialize for slicing and gripping, enabling larger sharks to target marine mammals. Continuous tooth replacement acts like a living record of lifestyle and diet changes, highlighting how the shark’s feeding toolkit adapts across life stages.
Great white sharks in the Mediterranean are critically endangered due to illegal fishing and are being sold in North African markets, with over 40 sharks killed in 2025 alone. Despite international protections, enforcement is weak, and the ecosystem is heavily degraded, raising concerns about the species' potential extinction unless urgent conservation efforts are made.
Scientists in Mexico documented orcas hunting and eating the livers of young great white sharks, a behavior previously observed in other regions but now confirmed in Mexico, indicating a possible shift in orca predation patterns that could impact shark populations.
A pod of orcas in the Gulf of California has been observed hunting and devouring the livers of young great white sharks, indicating that orca predation on these sharks may be more common than previously thought, showcasing their advanced hunting strategies and social learning.