Tracking the Last Mediterranean White Sharks





Centuries of coastal fishing, and more recently, industrial exploitation have severely impacted this population, which, in the last few decades, has declined to very low levels of abundance. They were historically abundant and widely distributed in the region, and now they are critically endangered. We don’t know how many sharks are left and still know very little about their ecology and biology to protect them.
Because they are scarce and have no aggregation areas similar to other regions, studying them in the field has always been challenging. To address this challenge, we started a multi-institutional monitoring program on white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea.

Yachts For Science: Sailing superyacht helps with ground-breaking shark research in the Mediterranean
Research Team

Francesco Ferretti
Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech

Taylor Chapple
Assistant Professor, Oregon State

James Glancy
Conservationist and Filmmaker

Khaled Echwikhi
Professor, University of Gabès

Sara Al Mabruk
Research Scientist, Marine Biology in Libya Society

Robbie Schallert
Research Scientist, Stanford University

Barbara Block
Professor, Stanford University

David Curnick
Research Associate, Zoological Society of London

Austin Gallagher
Chief Science Officer, Beneath the Waves

Jeremy Jenrette
PhD Candidate, Virginia Tech

Brendan Shea
PhD Candidate, Virginia Tech

Stefano Moro
Postdoctoral Fellow, Statzione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

Chiara Gambardella
PhD Student, Università Politecnica delle Marche

Chiheb Lemsi
Masters Student, University of Gabes

Maissa Chatti
PhD Student, University of Gabes

Hani Berriche
Masters Student, University of Gabes