Largest great white shark ever tagged in Gansbaai

Not much is known about female great white sharks, as they spend a large amount of their time offshore, sometimes as deep as 1,000m.

This shark was easily identifiable because of her pectoral fin deformity, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust said. Picture: Facebook/Marine Dynamics

A massive, five metre female great white shark, the largest ever tagged along South Africa’s coastline, was found in Gansbaai in the Western Cape earlier this week by shark cage diving company Marine Dynamics.

The shark was spotted while a group of unsuspecting shark cage divers were enjoying humpback whales, dolphin and seal sightings in the Kleinbaai area.

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Dyer Island Conservation Trust rushed to the scene and after finding the shark, lead great white shark biologist Alison Towner recalled seeing her before in 2018 – only back then she was significantly smaller.

This shark was easily identifiable, Towner wrote in a DICT blog post, because of her pectoral fin deformity.

Towner said not much is known about female great white sharks, as they spend a large amount of their time offshore, sometimes as deep as 1,000m.

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It is generally males who are seen in coastal areas.

This particular female may have been seen a bit closer to shore for two reasons, Towner said. Either for food, or for breeding, which takes place in warmer waters.

What looks like a battle scar along one of the shark’s eyes is actually a line of small parasitic crustaceans called copepods.

Trust marine biologists monitor sharks along the coast by tagging them with acoustic transmitters. Their movements can be recorded and incorporated into a larger database along with the African Tracking Platform.