Mediterranean Great White Sharks

In 1996, the Italian Great White Shark Data Bank began collecting and recording encounters in the Mediterranean between great white sharks and boats, bathers, divers, fishermen and others, from the Middle Ages to the present. This meticulously researched work presents the study’s findings for the first time, releasing a trove of information on the great white’s size, distribution, habitat, behavior, reproduction, diet, fisheries and attacks on humans. With 596 records of great white sharks from the entire Mediterranean Sea, this volume represents the most complete and comprehensive study on the species in that region and constitutes a rich resource for historians, scientists, fishermen, and divers.

Alessandro De Maddalena is a researcher, writer, scientific illustrator and wildlife photographer. He is the curator of the Italian Great White Shark Data Bank and a founding member of the Mediterranean Shark Research Group. He is the author of 19 books on sharks and hosts expeditions with courses in shark biology in South Africa, Australia and Mexico.
Walter Heim, a mechanical engineer, started photographing sharks in 2001 and with his daughter Jessica has developed techniques to photograph mako and blue sharks at close range. His pictures have appeared in many books and wildlife magazines. He is the author of four books on sharks.

Alessandro De Maddalena and Walter Heim
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 256
Bibliographic Info: 87 photos & illustrations, tables, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-5889-9
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8815-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      v

Foreword by Marie Levine      1

Preface      3

1. The Great White Shark      5

2. Records of Great White Sharks from the Mediterranean Sea      16

3. Summary Tables      113

4. Analysis of the Presence of Great White Sharks in the Mediterranean Sea      175

Spain      16

Continental Spain      16

Islas Baleares      18

France      22

Continental France      22

Corsica      31

Monaco      32

Italy      32

Ligurian Coast      33

Sardinia      38

Tyrrhenian Coast      42

Sicily      54

Ionian Coast      67

Adriatic Coast      68

Slovenia      77

Croatia      78

Bosnia and Herzegovina      86

Montenegro      86

Albania      86

Greece      86

Turkey      88

Syria      92

Cyprus      92

Lebanon      92

Israel      92

Egypt      92

Libya      93

Malta      94

Tunisia      99

Algeria      105

Morocco      106

Unknown Locations      106

Adriatic Sea      106

Mediterranean Sea      107

Specimens without a Capture Location      107

Common Names Used in the Mediterranean Area      175

Similar Species Present in the Study Area      175

Maximum Size      176

Average Size      179

Color      179

Reproduction      179

Distribution      182

Identification      184

Habitat, Movements and Seasonality      185

Diet      188

Predatory Tactics      192

Scavenging      194

Predators and Parasites      196

Mutualism      198

Attacks on Humans      198

Fisheries      203

Interactions with Tuna Farming      208

Utilization      211

Strandings      213

Abundance      214

Conservation      216

White Shark Materials Preserved in Museums      217

Photographic and Filmed Documentation      218

Reporting Specimens of Great White Sharks from the Mediterranean Sea      220

Appendix: Mediterranean Great White Shark Report Form      223

Bibliography      225

Index      237

“recommended”—ARBA; “presents all the data collected on the presence of the great white shark in the Mediterranean Sea”—Reference & Research Book News.