Sharks of the Mediterranean appeared about five and a half million years ago. And the sea itself is considered relatively "young." For sharks, it’s just perfect conditions. This is the temperature of the water, and the feed base. There are over 40 different species of sharks. Many of them reach 3 meters in length. And 15 are quite dangerous for humans.
The danger of sharks to humans
Despite the fact that many tourists gather on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, they try not to talk about cases of attacks on people. Moreover, the percentage of such shark aggression is quite low, and such cases are rare. It is believed that sharks in the Mediterranean Sea often mistake humans for fur seals or mammals.
Over the past century, 21 cases of fatal aggression have been recorded. For the rest, over a hundred years, 260 attacks with lighter consequences were noted. Compared to other seas, it is not much. But all the attacks were provoked directly by the people themselves. In many cases, sharks did not return to "eat up" a person, and people died from blood loss.
Are there sharks in the Mediterranean, we have already found out. Now consider which ones. The following species are most common: large-nosed, black-headed, black-headed reef, bull, white, soup, sandy, feline, spotted, mako, tiger, giant, gray reef, oceanic. Among them there are several aggressive species that are most dangerous to humans. These include the great white, oceanic, tiger, giant (hammerhead shark), gray reef, bull shark and mako. These are so different sharks of the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey is also not completely safe, and cannibal predators are often found there, so you need to swim with caution.
Human Danger for Sharks
The attack of sharks in the Mediterranean Sea is not uncommon, but still a greater danger poses to them from humans. Many species have almost disappeared, and five of them are on the verge of extinction. The hammerhead shark has not been seen since 1995. A huge number of these marine inhabitants are caught annually, and often they get into nets arranged for smaller fish. A catastrophic decrease in their numbers has been observed in the last 20 years.
Basically, only fins are taken from sharks, and the rest of the carcass is simply thrown into the sea. As a result, the animal cannot swim normally and dies in torment on the seabed, where it sinks without fins. This method of shark fishing is called finning.
Karharodon, or Great White Shark
It is considered the largest and often reaches a length of six meters. At the same time, its weight can reach up to three thousand kilograms. In the context of the question of whether there are sharks in the Mediterranean, it is primarily the great white one that is remembered, but it is becoming extinct and today is very rare. These animals cross long distances. Most often they enter the sea through Gibraltar, and many of the beaches were closed because of them.
What are the sharks in the Mediterranean? Kinds
Let us consider in more detail the most famous species of sharks found in the Mediterranean Sea.
Tiger
This shark was so named because of the stripes that are located on its body. At great depths, it is almost never found, mainly loves shallow water and beaches. It is considered predatory fish and reaches up to 7 meters in length and up to 1000 kg of weight.
Oceanic
This shark has several names: it is also called the long-winged and long-fin. It rarely swims to the shore, but recently this species has increasingly been attacking people on beaches in Egypt.
To the question of whether there are sharks in the Mediterranean Sea, one can confidently answer “yes,” while the oceanic one is found in abundance, is considered a very large predator and can reach up to 4 meters in length. For the shipwrecked, it poses a huge danger, since it is this species that attacks people most often.
Mako
Its other names: gray-blue shark, black-winged, bonito, mackerel and blue pointer. It is very fast, and when attacking, its speed reaches 100 km / h due to the developed circulatory system, which perfectly feeds the muscles.
She is quite aggressive and likes to appear in the coastal Mediterranean zones. The shark spends a lot of energy, therefore it is constantly hungry and eats everything that comes in its way. Often attacks swimmers, but its main food is mackerel, herring and mackerel, that is, schooling fish.
Hammerhead shark
It is often called giant, as it can reach 6 meters in length. It weighs almost half a ton. Her eyes are located on outgrowths, are widely spaced, but when searching for prey, these sharks do not rely on vision, but are guided by electromagnetic pulses. They allow you to detect prey, which is not even in sight.
Often, when asking a question about whether there are sharks in the Mediterranean, they mean the hammerhead shark. This species is, it has an amazing receptor sensitivity. This shark rarely attacks humans, and this mainly happens if a person is in the breeding zone.
Bull and Gray
Gray reef and bull sharks pose a great threat to people. Their sizes exceed human growth.
Gray very easily falls into aggression even from a small drop of blood or vibration. In this case, she tries to get to the victim. During the attack, she whirls around her prey and arches her back, and the attack begins after immersion in water, when she opens her mouth.
A bull shark is the only one that can live even in fresh water for more than four years. She belongs to the family of blunt-nosed and has a very unpredictable disposition. There are a lot of cases of her attack on people. She is fierce and able to drag even a bull under water. She is not picky in food and is quite capable of eating human corpses, so people for her are just part of the diet.
Sharks are very noticeable in shallow water and most dangerous in troubled waters. Often people are supposedly deceived by their slowness, slowness, but they attack instantly. Sharks are hardy, stubborn and able to develop tremendous speed when they hunt.