Toothy predators lurking in beach waters are not just limited to thriller movie plots, many of them become a reality for numerous individuals across the world. Now, experts have warned the residents of the UK about a new terror in the seas, the great white shark. Researchers tracking marine life have spotted the predators venturing further north than ever recorded.Scientists from research organisation OCEARCH recently tracked two great whites off the northern coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The pair included a 9ft male named Quint and a 10ft female named Bella. While the booming population off North America points to successful conservation efforts, marine experts have warned that warming oceans are forcing sharks to shift their hunting grounds.Marine scientist and shark expert Tom “The Blowfish” Hird said: “As the seas warm, things start to migrate. “A shark who used to live at however many degrees of latitude can’t stay there anymore because it’s too hot. So they need to move somewhere typically cooler that’s now increased to the temperature they like.”Although official sightings off British beaches remain unconfirmed, the Metro reported that experts believe great whites are already visiting the UK unnoticed.This could be true since the British waters sit within the predator’s preferred temperature range of 12C to 24C during summer months, and local grey seal populations offer an abundant food source. It has long intrigued scientists why they haven’t taken it as their home on a permanent basis. Hird believes the massive fish are likely stopping by for brief feeding trips.“When they’re younger, they feed on tuna, and there’s lots of those on UK coasts. It’s like humans stopping off at a service station,” he said. “The visits are few and fleeting – they come in, they look, and they go – but we do have great whites in British waters.”“We live on a very small island. It’s easy for a great white to swim around in a matter of days,” Hird added, noting that their high mobility explains why they regularly evade scuba divers and commercial fishing nets.
Paving the way for another
Now, great whites are predicted to push even further north toward Arctic territory, leaving UK waters warm enough for tropical species like hammerheads to take over.
UK’s potential status as a great white haven may be short-lived. Climate change is causing plenty of issues on dry land including extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, storms, and wildfires, all becoming more frequent. It is also having a massive impact on life below the surface too, causing sharks everywhere to migrate. Now, great whites are predicted to push even further north toward Arctic territory, leaving UK waters warm enough for tropical species like hammerheads to take over.Hammerhead sharks use specialised sensors in their wide heads to navigate using Earth’s magnetic field, a tool that would make navigating Britain’s shallow continental shelf easy. “Hammerheads might start moving in,” Hird said, noting that the shifting migration routes highlight a serious ecological crisis.“When we talk about sharks accessing new areas, the phrasing sounds like it’s good, like they are expanding. Actually, what’s happening is they’re being forced out of their true habitats into new ones.”
No fear yet
On average, fewer than ten fatal shark attacks occur globally each year.
Despite fear regarding large predators swimming close to popular beaches, experts stress that humans have little to fear. On average, fewer than ten fatal shark attacks occur globally each year.“If a shark is being displaced from tropical to temperate, like hammerheads, and temperate species are being displaced to polar, like great whites, then the polar species have nowhere to go. It’s like a bus – one person gets on, and everyone has to shuffle up. The person at the end is either squashed, or has to get off,” said Hird.“When people need to be really, really worried is not when new sharks are coming in, but when there are no sharks. If we don’t have healthy seas, we will not survive as a species,” he added.
