A ghost-net removal mission in the Strait of Sicily has produced what may be the first underwater footage captured by divers of an adult great white shark in the Mediterranean Sea.

The encounter came about during a conservation expedition organised by Healthy Seas in partnership with Ghost Diving and SDSS (The Society for Documentation of Submerged Sites). The team was working on an offshore shipwreck between Sicily and Tunisia, removing abandoned fishing nets that continue to trap and kill marine life.

Top banner image: Sebastián Losada, CC BY-SA 2.0

The operation, conducted in October 2025 under the international initiative Operation Thunder, began when inspectors in Anchorage, Alaska, uncovered a suspicious shipment of shark fins. This discovery led to a broader investigation, revealing a trafficking route that extended through Anchorage, Alaska; Louisville, Kentucky; and Cincinnati, Ohio. The shipments had originated in Mexico and were destined for Hong Kong. 

A growing body of research, including a recent study, points to an unexpected vulnerability: Some of the ocean’s fastest and most capable predators may be at risk of overheating as the seas warm.

Built for speed

Unlike most fish, species such as the great white shark, basking shark and Atlantic bluefin tuna are mesothermic. That means that their bodies run warmer than the surrounding water, due to specialised adaptations that trap metabolic heat.

Global shark bite incidents returned to typical levels in 2025, according to new figures from the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF). The data suggests that, following fluctuations in recent years, the number of recorded incidents aligns with long-term averages.

Researchers report that while shark bites continue to occur worldwide, the proportion of incidents in the United States has declined compared to previous years. This shift highlights the variability in where incidents occur rather than any overall increase in risk.

The Shark Trust has launched a collaboration with the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC), encouraging divers and snorkellers to contribute to ongoing citizen science initiatives aimed at improving knowledge of egg-laying shark and skate species.

In January 2025, researchers from the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre captured extraordinary footage: a large sleeper shark gliding silently past a deep-sea camera in Antarctic waters. The sighting took place near the South Shetland Islands, at a depth of around 500m, in water hovering near freezing.

Even for seasoned scientists, the moment was startling. As marine researcher Alan Jamieson later admitted, seeing a shark there felt almost impossible. Until now, no sleeper shark had ever been recorded in these southernmost seas.

The study describes how researchers observed mature male and female tiger sharks showing physical signs consistent with mating at Olowalu, Maui. Even more compelling, long-term tracking revealed a strong and predictable seasonal pattern: adult sharks repeatedly gathered in the same place at the same time of year.

That kind of consistency strongly suggests this is not random. A co-author of the study, Carl Meyer, believes that it is the first group mating site for tiger sharks ever identified.