"Hardly noticed"

Hundreds of great white sharks live in the Mediterranean

In recent years, there have been repeated reports of isolated sightings of large sharks in the Adriatic - and great white sharks have also been mentioned several times. The Dutch marine biologist Kurt de Swaaf is currently reporting an "isolated population" of the notorious marine predators in the Mediterranean - it is therefore likely to be several hundred sexually mature specimens.

De Swaaf quotes several scientists on derStandard.at who have studied the topic. For example, the Universita degli Studi dell'Insubria in Como (Italy) has collected all records of sightings and encounters with great white sharks in the Adriatic since the Middle Ages - a total of 628 cases were documented between the year 467 and 2015.

"Since time immemorial", writes de Swaaf, "Carcharodon carcharias" has been present almost everywhere in the Mediterranean, "but hardly anyone notices them".

According to the Italian paper, it is mainly western and Adriatic waters that are preferred by the protected animals - they are also likely to be found off the Egyptian coast, where the waters are still relatively rich in fish in contrast to the rest of the Adriatic.

However, the latest reports almost all come from Sicily and the North African coast, the report states.

"Many drowned people are never found"
In this context, Ginevra Boldrocchi from the University of Como fears that the great white sharks there could also be feeding increasingly on human corpses, partly due to overfishing. "Every year, people drown trying to reach Europe. Many are never found," adds de Swaaf.

However, scientists still agree that large sharks themselves pose hardly any threat to humans. Although there have also been isolated attacks on humans on European coasts, the risk of becoming a victim of a shark attack is still extremely low - especially in the Adriatic.