A new study suggests that great white sharks could begin prowling British waters as the North Sea continues to warm. Last year, water temperatures in the North Sea reached record levels, with average surface temperatures hitting 11.6C, the warmest since measurements began in 1969.
Fossil Evidence of Ancient Sharks
Olivier Lambert from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and his colleagues examined whale fossils recovered from North Sea sediments dating back around 5 million years. During that period, North Sea waters were warmer and home to various whale and shark species. Fossilised tooth fragments embedded in the whale skulls indicated that sharks had fed on them.
The findings, published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, show that one tooth belonged to a bluntnose sixgill shark, commonly found in Mediterranean waters today, and the other to the extinct mako shark Cosmopolitodus hastalis, a relative of the modern great white shark.
Implications for Today's Ecosystems
This fossil evidence offers insight into how ecosystems may change as climate breakdown warms our seas. While the current North Sea is too shallow to support modern whales, increasing numbers of dolphins and seals are being attracted to the warming waters. Lambert and his team propose that this could, in turn, draw great white sharks and other large marine predators back to UK waters.
The study highlights the potential for significant shifts in marine life distribution as temperatures rise, with apex predators potentially returning to regions they once inhabited.
