The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is one of the most fascinating and feared marine creatures. Its presence in the Mediterranean Sea, although not widely known to the general public, has ancient roots and significant scientific relevance.
The purpose of this post is to share some data regarding the presence of this formidable shark, along with information aimed at dispelling common fears surrounding this animal. The goal is to better define its actual level of danger and to spread knowledge about its true nature.
1. The Great White Shark in the Mediterranean sea: A Millennia-Long Presence
The First Accounts: Herodotus, Aristotle, and Pliny the Elder
Knowledge of Sharks in the Mediterranean Dates Back to Antiquity.
The earliest artifact depicting a man being attacked by a shark is the so-called Shipwreck Krater, discovered in Ischia and dating back to the 8th century BCE.
Aristotle, in his treatise Historia Animalium, described various species of cartilaginous fish, including creatures we can now identify as sharks. Although he did not distinguish them with the precision of modern taxonomy, his naturalistic observations represent some of the earliest written accounts of Mediterranean marine fauna.
Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis Historia, also mentions large fish with sharp teeth and predatory behavior, descriptions that could refer to great white sharks. Pliny gathered testimonies from sailors and fishermen, providing a snapshot of the naturalistic knowledge of his time.
Herodotus, in his Histories (6.44), describes the shipwreck of a Persian fleet and the subsequent attack on the survivors by schools of sharks—an account reminiscent of the infamous USS Indianapolis incident. After delivering the atomic bomb to Hiroshima, the American naval ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine, leading to the deaths of most of the crew, many of whom fell victim to numerous shark attacks while stranded at sea.
Ancient sources thus confirm that sharks have always inhabited the Mediterranean and that they were already considered potentially dangerous to humans. The examination of artifacts from that era, such as mosaics from Aquileia and Pompeii, further supports the presence of sharks in ancient times.
The peculiarities of the behaviors described by ancient historians, however, raise some doubts regarding the identification of the sharks in question. The predatory behaviors detailed by Pliny and Herodotus, in particular, resemble those of sharks such as the oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) or the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), which are considered the primary culprits in the attacks on the survivors of the USS Indianapolis. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that the temperature of the Mediterranean Sea during the period between Herodotus's and Pliny's writings was significantly higher than it is today. This raises the question of whether, in Herodotus’s time, the Mare Nostrum was inhabited by species that are now found exclusively in tropical waters, and whether the great white shark, which prefers cooler waters, was instead confined to the oceans.
2. Nicolaus Steno and the Dawn of Paleontology
It wasn’t until the 16th century that we find the first reliable, scientific descriptions of the great white shark’s presence in the Mediterranean.
In 1554, Guillaume Rondelet published his Libri de piscibus marinis in quibus verae piscium effigies expressae sunt, describing a specimen of Lamia—the name Rondelet used to identify the great white shark—caught in Marseille.
The pivotal moment in the scientific understanding of sharks and marine fossils occurred in 1666 when a large great white shark was caught off the coast of Livorno. The renowned Danish scientist Nicolaus Steno (Niccolò Stenone), who worked at the Medici court in Tuscany, had the opportunity to study the animal’s head. Analyzing the shark’s teeth, Steno noticed an extraordinary resemblance to the so-called glossopetrae ("tongue stones"), fossils commonly found and, until then, believed to be mineral formations or mythical relics. Steno correctly deduced that these were fossilized teeth of ancient sharks, laying the foundation for modern paleontology.
His work, De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento dissertationis prodromus (1669), is considered a cornerstone of geology and paleontology, introducing concepts such as stratigraphy and fossil formation. Steno’s meticulous study of the great white shark specimen definitively confirms that the great white shark inhabited the waters of Tuscany in the 17th century.
3. Current Presence of the Great White Shark in the Mediterranean
Today, the great white shark is present in various areas of the Mediterranean, although in limited numbers. According to recent studies, such as the one published by the Società Toscana di Scienze Naturali (Storai et al., Series B, 112 (2005), pp. 153–166), the most frequented areas include:
The Strait of Sicily
The Central and Southern Adriatic Sea
The Gulf of Genoa
The Alboran Sea (between Spain and Morocco)
These sharks use the Mediterranean as a breeding and feeding ground, attracted by the presence of prey such as tuna and pelagic fish. However, sightings of specimens are rare, and encounters with humans are even more infrequent.
To confirm the presence of great white sharks in the Mediterranean, one need only search on YouTube to find numerous videos documenting sightings—from the Strait of Sicily to the upper Adriatic, and even the waters off Tuscany.
4. The Attack in the Gulf of Baratti (1980s)
Another area where the great white shark has long been known is Elba Island, where local fishermen have even given it the name tacca di fondo (Silvestre Ferruzzi, Historia Minor - Storie minime dell'Elba occidentale, Livorno, Persephone Edizioni, 2021), confirming the community’s familiarity with the animal, which seasonally passes through the Piombino Channel to reach the Gulf of Genoa.
One of the most notorious incidents involving a great white shark attack in the Mediterranean occurred in the Gulf of Baratti, Tuscany, in 1989. Diver Luciano Costanzo was attacked and killed while working on underwater pipelines, in full view of his son and a friend, who watched helplessly from the boat. As often happens with such events, various urban legends emerged, casting doubt on the official version. However, after the investigation, the case was closed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office as a shark attack, and firefighters later recovered human remains and scuba tanks bearing evident shark bite marks from the seafloor.
5. The Rarity of Encounters and the Low Probability of Attack
Despite the collective imagination fueled by movies like Spielberg’s Jaws, the likelihood of encountering a great white shark in the Mediterranean is extremely low—and the probability of suffering an attack is even rarer.
According to the Global Shark Attack File, fewer than 100 confirmed attacks (not necessarily involving great whites) have been recorded in the Mediterranean over the past century, with only 24 fatalities.
Comparison with Other Risks:
Probability of dying in a car accident: 1 in 8,000
Probability of being struck by lightning: 1 in 15,000
Probability of a fatal shark attack: 1 in 4.3 million
Shark-related deaths worldwide each year: 5
Dog-related deaths worldwide each year: 20,000
Why Sharks Don’t Intentionally Attack Humans
Great white sharks, like most shark species, rarely attack humans.
Although shark behavior remains the subject of extensive study and many unanswered questions, recent technological advancements have significantly improved our understanding of these fascinating animals.
Photographer Scott Fairchild, for example, has long been dedicated to producing video material documenting interactions between great white sharks and humans along the California coast. An examination of his footage will convince anyone that, under normal circumstances, a great white shark encountering a swimmer or surfer completely ignores them, often veering off course upon approaching. Incidents like the aforementioned case of Luciano Costanzo or the more recent attack on Simon Nellis (the Russian man killed in Hurghada was not a victim of a great white shark but of a tiger shark) are thus exceptionally rare events likely caused by behavioral anomalies.
The fact that the great white shark is largely indifferent to humans and does not attack anything it encounters along its path is also demonstrated by the almost picky behavior of this shark towards shark expert Ron Elliot.
In the scientific community, the "mistaken identity" theory has gained significant traction over the past few decades. According to this theory, the rare instances of shark attacks on humans occur because sharks, attacking from below against the light, mistakenly confuse the silhouette of a swimmer or surfer with that of a seal. However, this theory has recently been called into question, as it does not align with the shark’s complex sensory system, which relies on much more than just vision during predation.
As a result, some scientists are now advocating for a different explanation: that supposed "shark attacks" on humans are not actual attacks but rather exploratory bites. These bites are delivered with significantly less force than what a shark typically uses when intending to kill its prey. This theory suggests that sharks may be curious rather than aggressive, using gentle bites as a way to investigate unfamiliar objects in their environment.
In other words, just as we use our hands to explore an object, sharks examine unfamiliar items with their mouths to determine whether they are a potential food source. It’s important to note that even an exploratory bite from a great white shark can have devastating or fatal consequences. If the goal of this post is to reassure the average reader about the low risk posed by great white sharks, the “exploratory bite” theory may not be particularly comforting, but it is important to emphasize that not only is the possibility of encountering a great white shark already remote, but even if this unlikely event were to occur, the chances of the shark ignoring the human are much higher than the chances of the shark becoming curious about the human presence and deciding to carry out an exploratory examination with its powerful mouth; and the odds decrease even further if you don’t habitually surf along the coasts of California or Australia, which significantly contributes to raising the statistics on interactions between humans and great white sharks.
6. Conclusions
The presence of the great white shark in the Mediterranean is a fascinating reality that connects us to the natural history of our sea, from the time of Aristotle to the pioneering studies of Nicolaus Steno.
The fact that great white sharks have inhabited the Mediterranean for centuries, with such a low number of incidents, serves as indirect evidence that they do not pose a significant threat to humans.
The odds of encountering a great white shark are close to statistical randomness, and even in the rare event of an encounter, it is highly likely that the shark will ignore the human altogether. The probability of both encountering a shark and being attacked is reduced to such anecdotal events that they fuel popular imagination more than statistical reality. However, the fact that such improbable incidents can occur should not be the basis for widespread fear or phobia.
Would I happily jump into the water alongside a great white shark? No.Would I suggest it to a loved one? Definitely not. The great white shark is an apex predator, an animal that should be understood and treated with respect. However, humans are not part of its usual prey, and we should not harbor an irrational or baseless terror toward it.
Promoting accurate information about these animals helps reduce irrational fear and highlights the importance of their conservation. The great white shark is not a monster but a crucial link in the marine ecosystem, whose survival is closely tied to the health of our Mediterranean Sea.
Coexistence between humans and great white sharks is not a utopian ideal—it’s a fact that has been part of our reality for centuries.
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