Great white shark spotted near Spanish island of Mallorca

16.5ft fish spotted by crew members of a
marine research expedition

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Ricardo Sagarminaga van Buiten led the scientific expedition and
shared the shot on the Alnitak
Facebook page, saying the group had followed and observed the
shark for just over an hour.

According to Deutsche Welle, local newspaper Diario de
Mallorca said it was a “historic sighting”, as it represented the
first time that proof of a live specimen in the Balearic Sea has
been brought forth.

The Alnitak team agreed saying: “In recent years there were
possible unconfirmed sightings and various rumours, but this is the
first scientific observation of the presence of the white shark in
Spanish waters for at least 30 years.

“On this occasion, this historic sighting has been photographed,
filmed and contemplated by a crew of 10 people from five
countries.”

The Alnitak 2018 expedition “bumped into the shark as its ship
was roaming the coast of Mallorca to carry out various research
activities, such as gathering data on marine animals and
microplastic pollution at sea”, says Deutsche Welle.

While shark attacks in Europe are extremely rare, “the predators
are far more common than thought”, says The Sun.

Since 1900, there have been more than 200 attacks in the Med –
and more than 50 people have lost their lives.

There are also said to be aggressive tiger sharks and bull
sharks in the region, but definitive sightings of the these have
yet to emerge.

Experts have warned that interactions between humans and sharks
are now pretty much unavoidable.

Ian K Fergusson, of Sharkinfo.ch, told The Sun: “Even the
slightest hint of a shark attack in the Mediterranean surprises –
even horrifies – the many millions of people who visit this region
every year.

“The existence of approximately 46 different species of sharks
in the Mediterranean – 16 of them measuring three or more metres in
length, and 15 being potentially dangerous species – makes the
occasional encounter between humans and these animals in the most
frequented and most travelled sea unavoidable.”