Great white enigma: In search of the Mediterranean’s giant sharks

Few species thrill (or chill) like the great white shark. Yet little is known about the population inhabiting one of the world’s busiest seas—except that they’re there, and they’re big.

Photograph by Shutterstock / National Geographic Creative

A young boy sits atop a fishing rig on a small boat, its rod arced under tension. The film cuts, and we see the boy turn to his father with a victorious balled fist, as he regards his catch—a small thresher shark—lashed to the side of the boat. In the background a local pop tune croons out of a radio, mingling with the sounds of the sea below and seagulls above.  

Then the camera catches something in the water beyond: a fin the color of soot, tracking the boat. Seconds later a black head the shape of a torpedo breaks the water and attacks the fisherman’s prize. The water becomes a maelstrom of foam and blood

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