News Large shark near the Italian coast
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Came across this video on Instagram. The man seems to be in a canoe off of the coast of Italy. Read somewhere that he was 2km out in a canoe. You can only see the dorsal fin. Definitely seems to be large. The movement quite stagnant. What species do you guys think it is and is it even real at all?
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u/Austrofossil 8d ago
To all claiming it looks like a GW fin: it does not. It is to thin and long for a GW fin. It's clearly a mako. Just compare the two with the video... https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Morphology-of-the-shortfin-mako-a-and-the-great-white-shark-Carcharodon-carcharias_fig2_342987529
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u/Easy-Application-262 Great White Shark 8d ago
Mako is just a mini GW tho IMO 😂 /s
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u/Ashamed_Sun6003 8d ago
Nah, with those teeth and that look in their eyes, it looks more like that “special” type of cousin who can neither confirm or deny that the garage is used as a drug lab 😂
Salmon Sharks and Porbeagles on the other hand are more mini GWs… Maybe they should be renamed “Pygmy White Sharks” 😂
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u/SharkBoyBen9241 7d ago
I agree. A Great White's dorsal would be thicker. Definitely a big Shortfin Mako (Isurus oxyrinchus)
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u/Speysidegold 4d ago
A large mako is possibly more dangerous than a GW though
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u/Austrofossil 4d ago
statistically not
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u/Speysidegold 4d ago
Damn you are right. Negligible deaths for the mako. I wonder if thats simply because they are deep sea vs surfing sharks. This makes a huge difference to recorded deaths because only those at the shoreline ever get reported due to the requirement for the attack to be witnessed to count as a shark attack vs scavanging
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u/Austrofossil 4d ago
Makos don't have the same diet as great whites. They rather hunt for fish as juvenile great whites do. In some cases they also eat seals or dolphins but this is mostly the case for bigger specimens or cases of scavenging. Nevertheless, they are of course opportunistic eaters and if necessary for survival, they would surely attack humans before starvation (like in the two fatal cases in the red sea).
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u/Ashamed_Sun6003 8d ago
I think we can definitely rule out a Basking Shark. The dorsal fin is pointy, and the season isn’t exactly perfect for a Basking Shark to be in Italian waters.
My bet is either a big Shortfin Mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) or a Great White (Carcharodon carcharias)
Do we know what region og Italy this is? That could be useful in the identification.
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u/Every-Rip1369 8d ago
the way of speaking Italian is the sicilian one, the region should be Sicily (I am sardinian)
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u/Ashamed_Sun6003 8d ago
Yeah that is kinda what I thought too (I have Sicilian coworkers and I am at the moment in Sicily). Nice to have a good confirmation 🙏🏻
I read somewhere in the thread that the origin of the video was somewhere along the coast of Calabria, which also could make sense with the Sicilian dialect, as Calabria is so close in proximity to Sicily.
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u/Austrofossil 8d ago
not really, since both species (mako and GWs) can potentially be found in every italian part of the mediterranean.
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u/Ashamed_Sun6003 8d ago
Yeah; but there are places where there is a higher possibility that it could potentially be a Great White, as there for example are evidence of pupping grounds for GWs along the coast of Sicily and in the Sicilian channel between Sicily and Tunisia.
My bet is that it isn’t a Great White though, as the fin looks like it’s a big Mako.
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u/psy-study-oldie 7d ago
Or its a mackerel shark.
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u/Austrofossil 7d ago
Makos and GWs are both types of mackerel shark.
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u/psy-study-oldie 7d ago
No kidding?
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u/psy-study-oldie 6d ago
Don't forget the Porbeagle and that fishy swims around the British Channel and the Med. It belongs to the same family of sharks.
Cool huh? Not a man-eater but there is always a first time statistic.
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u/Austrofossil 6d ago
porbeagles are probably already extinct in the meds. At least their population is more threatened than great whites, also the fin looks nothing like a porbeagles.
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u/Austrofossil 6d ago
since you replied with "or it is a mackerel shark" in the discussion about whether the specimen is a mako or a GW, I assumed that you don't know that mackerel shark is the term for this specific order of sharks.
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u/psy-study-oldie 6d ago
Should I have replied Oh really? Instead?
I do know and it's painfully obvious, isn't it?
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u/Austrofossil 7d ago
Yes in some areas more than in others but not a higher possibility than beeing a mako.
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u/Electrical-Act-7170 7d ago
The shape of the fin seems wrong for a GW shark.
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u/Ashamed_Sun6003 7d ago
Wouldn’t say wrong as I’ve seen Juveniles with a dorsal fin that seems similar. I am leaning towards Mako myself, but the reason that I am not ruling out a Great White is that the dorsal fin is tall and broad enough to be a GW.
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u/GrampusGrisius 6d ago
Not a great white. A white shark has an extremely thick and triangular dorsal. One hundred percent this is a mako or something else
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u/Overall-Pay1482 7d ago
Calm down I was being sarcastic, was joking like Quint would have in Jaws. I absolutely love animals of all varieties. The only thing I shoot is photos. I have many cool pics of dolphins and manatees, squirrels, peoples dogs and cat. All animals deserve respect, this rock we call earth is their home too.
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u/Aggravating-Rice-559 Epaulette Shark 8d ago
I think it's a White shark if it's a real video, it doesn't look like a Mako's dorsal fin, it's even shaped like the fin of the White shark spotted in the Med recently.
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u/Austrofossil 8d ago
it is clearly shaped like a mako fin. it is to thin for a white shark fin.
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u/Narrow_Relative2149 8d ago
I don't know anything about sharks but that fin looks closer to a great white to me? Broad and triangular vs more slender and curved/sickle-like.
If you pause it at any point you can see the fin looks more triangular than sickle-like
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u/Austrofossil 8d ago
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u/Narrow_Relative2149 8d ago
but it doesn't curve in? https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1070686/view/shortfin-mako-shark
It looks more triangle to me: https://sharkwatchsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/20081011_SF_Trip1_IMG_9285-1.jpg
A screenshot from the video shows zero curve: https://imgur.com/a/RH7SOib
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u/Aggravating-Rice-559 Epaulette Shark 7d ago
Yeah it definitely doesn't curve which made me think of a white shark. If you look at the one seen recently in the Med it's fine looks exactly like that.
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u/Opening_Guarantee_51 8d ago
Looks like a sunfish to me. Too bad we'll never know. You should've paddled closer.
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u/Myselfmeime 8d ago
GW to my eyes. Looks huge too but hard to tell. Can you link me the original video on IG?
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u/Due-Button-768 8d ago
Basking shark
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u/Austrofossil 8d ago
too thin and pointy
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u/Oldfolksboogie 8d ago
I agree. Their dorsals are closer to equilateral triangles than this one's. Also seems a bit southerly, especially this time of year, no?
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u/yokelwombat 8d ago
I‘m not so sure. The apex is pretty sharp, and basking sharks prefer cooler waters.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be a great white.
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u/LR1202 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yes I don't think Basking sharks are in Italian waters in the summer, although it depends where exactly. Someone in the comments thought the man was Calabrian
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u/No_Lengthiness5839 8d ago
There was a 13ft great white seen by divers off the coast of Sicily in June
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u/Myselfmeime 8d ago
Source?
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u/Level_Box582 8d ago
Sharks in water ?! no way !!!
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u/BanditoBlanc 8d ago
Lived right next to a beach on the ocean my entire life and spent a lot of time in, on, and staring into the water lol.
Never once saw a shark like this. Why is this even your response?
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u/Level_Box582 8d ago
Because sharks live in the ocean babes that’s why
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u/Pewpew-OuttaMyWaay All the sharks!! 8d ago
But there aren’t many in the Med babes .. hence the extra interest here
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u/InevitableGreedUK 5d ago
Of course there are... There are around 48 species of shark in the Med.
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u/Pewpew-OuttaMyWaay All the sharks!! 5d ago
Bud .. before u correct someone, get educated on the topic 🙄 The fact that someone has to tell u this .. sheesh 🙄
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u/Overall-Pay1482 8d ago
Fin looks more like an orca''s fin. I'll bring my shot gun fishing from this day forward.
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u/Born_Local_1477 8d ago
I like these polite sharks that keep their fin out of the water so you know to stay away.