Records of Great White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in New Caledonian Waters.

Abstract

The occurrence of great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in New Caledonia is documented from 30 observation events (sightings or captures or forensic examination of wounds) made between 1943 and 2009, involving 34 individual sharks. Nine of the observation events concerned animals caught on lines set for deep-sea fishes, five were encounters with scuba divers or snorkelers, and one was a fatal attack on a surfer; two other observations included great white sharks feeding on whale carcasses; two were from pop-up archival transmitting tag records that monitored individuals tagged in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand; one was a forensic identification from wounds sustained by another large shark; and seven were fortuitous sightings from boats. Nearly all observations were of solitary sharks. Observation events were concentrated in the southern lagoon of New Caledonia or along its barrier reef. They occurred from July to March, with most records in September and November, coinciding with a peak of occurrence of large cetaceans.