'Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…' Great White Shark spotted in the Mediterranean for first time
Derk Remmers, from Ghost Diving, said he was more likely to win the lottery than "to meet such an iconic animal underwater".
Divers have captured the first underwater footage of an adult great white shark in the Mediterranean Sea in his natural habitat.
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The diving team caught sight of the shark while working to recover abandoned fishing nets from a shipwreck located offshore in the Strait of Sicily, an area where so-called 'ghost nets' regularly trap and kill turtles, large fish, and more.
It was part of a collaborative project between the Healthy Seas Foundation, Ghost Diving and SDSS (The Society for Documentation of Submerged Sites) and brought together marine conservation, technical diving, scientific collaboration and underwater documentation.
Derk Remmers, from Ghost Diving, said he was more likely to win the lottery than "to meet such an iconic animal underwater".
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The diver said: "You spend decades diving wrecks and removing ghost nets, but nothing prepares you for a moment like this.
"An offshore underwater shark encounter in the Mediterranean is insane, yet we also went on with our diving plan to remove nets from the wreck, as this moment showed the importance of our work very clearly."
Experts have described the encounter as "highly unusual" and "scientifically valuable" but added that further analysis needed to be undertaken before any conclusions could be drawn.
Dr. Carlo Cattano, researcher at the Sicily Marine Centre of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn., added: "Most of our knowledge on the White Sharks in the Mediterranean Sea comes from records of dead specimens caught by fishing operations.
"Observations like this are extremely valuable for improving our understanding of the distribution, habits, and behaviour of this critically endangered species, whose survival is threatened by human activities.
"Our research on sharks has, over time, allowed us to identify several key hotspots for threatened species, and this sighting is particularly significant in validating the conservation value of this area."
The mission itself was focused on recovering fishing equipment that poses risks to marine life around the shipwreck.
Shipwrecks in offshore waters can function as artificial reefs, and attract a rich variety of marine species.
Previous dives have documented several endangered loggerhead sea turtles and large fish species trapped in the ghost nets.
Veronika Mikos, Director of Healthy Seas, said: "What makes this encounter so powerful is not only the shark itself, but the context in which it happened.
"We were there to remove ghost nets trapping marine life on a shipwreck ecosystem that is a hotspot for biodiversity.
"Moments like this remind us how much life can still exist in offshore Mediterranean waters and how important it is to protect it from preventable threats like abandoned fishing gear or overfishing."