If the killer whales are surprising scientists and boaters with their attacks, the sharks seem to want to do the same by attracting the attention of bathers. The season began with a blue shark (Prionace glauca) that was seen for a few hours on June 15 in the port of Ciutadella (Menorca). On June 15, a tourist was treated for an anxiety attack after seeing a blue shark up close on Aguamarina beach, in Orihuela (Alicante). On the 17th and 18th, a shark of the species known as the gray reed shark (Hexanchus griseus) was sighted in the waters of Cape Formentor, in the northernmost part of the island of Mallorca.
The British newspaper The Sun did not miss the opportunity to publish a report on June 23 with the headline “Mystery, sharks swarm in Spanish holiday resorts leaving scientists baffled.” Curiously, on Friday the 23rd, the presence of two blue sharks made it necessary to place a red flag and close the beaches of Martinenca, Maricel and Marjal, in Alcanar (Tarragona).
“We do not know if there is a common reason or if it is simple coincidence, but it is true that, as has happened in recent days, we have been observing a greater presence of sharks on our beaches for a few years,” explains Manel Gazo, professor and researcher at the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the University of Barcelona. “They are wild animals and, despite the fact that they are not aggressive towards humans, all precautions must be taken and avoid approaching them or wanting to touch them,” explains Gazo.
“It is normal that in the presence of a shark they are ordered to evacuate the beach, this is the protocol that is put into practice, but for the record that the species that normally appear on our coast, such as the blue shark or the gray cabin, are not a danger to humans if not provoked; There is no known recent case of an attack by one of these sharks on humans on our coasts”, explains Anabel Colmenero, a researcher at the Institut del Ciències del Mar (ICM)-CSIC and co-founder of Catsharks.
In any case, the presence of blue sharks is surprising because they generally move in waters relatively far from the coast and because, according to recent studies, medium-sized or large shark species such as the blue shark or the gray reed are disappearing from the Western Mediterranean, recalls Manel Gazo.
Anabel Colmenero agrees that sharks are in danger of extinction in the Mediterranean and points out that many specimens that approach the beaches show apparent health problems or disorientation. This year the blue shark observed on June 15 in Aguamarina was found dead the next day on the nearby beach of La Caleta.
Problems such as rising temperatures and acidification of the waters, pollution, destruction of habitats, the presence of boats and noise may be influencing the decline of shark populations in the Mediterranean. But above all, Colmenero and Gazo agree that the big problem for sharks in the Mediterranean is overfishing. In many cases, sharks are actually killed accidentally in trawling or longlining operations targeting other fish species. Many of the sharks caught, even accidentally, end up being marketed without any limitation in this regard.
“None of the shark species in our waters is protected and captures continue, despite the fact that some of them are on the list of endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature,” laments Colmenero. Certainly, when a shark approaches the beach, alarm bells go off, but in reality, more than the bathers, it is the sharks that are in danger.
