The Great White Face Disappearing in the Mediterranean Sea, Researchers State

These formidable predators in the Mediterranean waters are facing a serious threat of extinction, with poaching being a key factor to their rapid population drop.

This assessment is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who worked alongside an ocean protection organization. They note that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are found on sale in marketplaces across Northern African nations.

Great white sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, which makes it illegal to fish for them or to sell them.

However, by surveying docks along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the research team found that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been killed there in 2025 alone.

Social media clips showing protected sharks being landed at North African ports has been authenticated.

A particular clip showed a large great white being hauled ashore from a trawler in Algeria. A separate video, taken in a Tunisian location, shows parts of what appears to be a protected mako, which is also a protected and endangered species.

Final Refuge

The lead researcher, explained that many shark species – white sharks in particular – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.

"No other body of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been intensifying... and it's likely that they will go extinct in the near future."

The population of great whites in the Mediterranean is now listed as Critically Endangered by the global conservation union.

In their new mission to track and analyze the animals, the team worked in the waters between Sicily and North Africa – an area identified as a "final refuge" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.

One key aim of their expedition was to deploy a tracking device onto a shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To attempt this, the researchers used a large amount of bait – including frozen fish parts and 500 litres of tuna oil to create a "fat slick" that many sharks can detect from a great distance.

After two weeks of work – chumming the water, collecting water samples to test for environmental DNA and using remote cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any animals to tag.

They captured only a short sighting of one shark on their submarine cameras.

"It's disheartening," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how damaged this habitat is."

As the team searched for living sharks, they also were informed that a juvenile great white had been captured and killed in a North African fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is unknown whether that shark was accidentally caught in nets or lines, or if it was deliberately caught.

The team, however, estimates that over forty great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The team, along with regional contacts, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Findings shows that protected sharks are taken and traded in countries including several North African nations.

The protective legislation are complicated. Currently, numerous species have global protection – like makos and hammerheads.

An international agreement states that those species cannot be "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale".

The agreement mandates "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and implementation differs from nation to nation.

A conservationist noted that his own research found multiple white sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.

"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a hope for revival."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to provide for their families, or throw back an endangered shark to the ocean.

"Why would they release sharks into the sea when they must feed their households?" asked a scientist. "If you assist and guide them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch protected species."

Another expert added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."

"But," he stated, "we've got to act very quickly."