A volunteer diver has recorded extraordinarily rare video footage of an endangered Great White shark swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. The encounter took place in the Strait of Sicily, a stretch of water between Tunisia and Sicily that marine biologists consider the species’ last stronghold in the region. The diver recalled “shaking” while filming the predator, providing researchers with vital visual evidence of a population pushed to the edge of extinction.
The sighting, confirmed by a BBC News video report published Monday morning, is a rare bright spot for marine biology. The International Union for Conservation of Nature currently classifies the Mediterranean Great White as critically endangered. Over the past few years, extensive scientific expeditions to this exact region have failed to tag or even spot a single specimen, making this volunteer’s recording an exceptional victory for marine science.
The Fight to Protect the Strait of Sicily
This footage offers a necessary data point for marine conservationists fighting a steep population decline. Researchers from Virginia Tech, led by Dr. Francesco Ferretti, along with the UK charity Blue Marine Foundation, have been tracking the species’ disappearance and searching for remaining strongholds to establish protected zones.
Late in 2025, marine scientists issued urgent warnings that the regional population was on the brink of total collapse. Data indicated that at least 40 Great Whites were killed by North African fisheries in that single year. Despite an international agreement signed by the European Union and 23 Mediterranean nations that makes it strictly illegal to fish, retain, or sell these sharks, the species frequently falls victim to illegal trafficking and ends up in North African fish markets.
By capturing this shark on video, the volunteer diver proved that at least a fraction of the population continues to survive the heavy fishing pressure in the Mediterranean corridor. Researchers will use the footage to better understand the shark’s movement patterns as they push for stronger enforcement of international marine protections.