Crispian Balmer<\/p>\n
June 9, 2026 \u2014 8:05am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Rome: Divers removing abandoned fishing nets from the central Mediterranean, between Italy and North Africa, have captured what they believe is the first-ever underwater footage of an adult great white shark in the region.<\/p>\n The sighting occurred as a team led by the Healthy Seas Foundation recovered so-called ghost nets from a shipwreck in the Strait of Sicily \u2013 a biodiversity hotspot heavily affected by industrial fishing.<\/p>\n The video, taken last week and published on Monday, shows the shark accompanied by a dozen striped pilot fish, which often flank large predators in the hope of picking up leftovers.<\/p>\n Footage and photographs of the shark were filmed by volunteer diver Derk Remmers of Ghost Diving, one of the project partners. \u201cAn offshore underwater shark encounter in the Mediterranean is insane,\u201d Remmers said in a statement.<\/p>\n Another member of the diving team, Pascal van Erp, said on Facebook that the shark had probably been drawn to dead marine life entangled in the abandoned fishing net, including lots of sea turtles.<\/p>\n While there have been occasional sightings of great whites in the Mediterranean, the size of the population is unknown, and previous encounters are not believed to have been filmed by divers, the foundation said.<\/p>\n \u201cMoments like this remind us how much life can still exist in offshore Mediterranean waters, and how important it is to protect it from preventable threats like abandoned fishing gear or overfishing,\u201d said Healthy Seas director Veronika Mikos.<\/p>\n Researchers working with the mission said that the sighting could improve understanding of the distribution and behaviour of the critically endangered species, though further analysis would be required before broader conclusions are drawn.<\/p>\n Reuters<\/p>\n Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what\u2019s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n