Sensational footage: is this the first video of a newborn great white shark?

There is still much to explore in the depths of the ocean, such as how the birth of a great white shark occurs, as researchers have not yet been able to observe one. Now one YouTuber in particular has made a similarly important discovery: Last July, on a beach near Santa Barbara, California, Carlos Gauna took the first photo of a fish that experts believe is a newborn great white shark.

The premise: The Southern California location could serve as a nursery for great white sharks. Gauna had probably observed pregnant sharks there in recent years, he wrote in a post on Instagram.

“This little white shark, which almost looked like an albino, came to the surface,” Gauna told Britain’s BBC about his discovery. As he flew his drone closer, more details of the shark became visible. It was said to be completely white, but the white layer seemed to be peeling off. Gauna was accompanied that day by shark researcher Phil Sternes from the University of California. Sternes was also completely beside himself with the discovery.

The scientist told the BBC that what struck him most was the shape of the shark: its fins were rounder than normal. This is something that is observed in shark embryos and newborn animals. According to the researcher, the white layer could be evidence that the shark had just been born and therefore still had a mucus-like substance on its body.

Another researcher, James Worthington of the University of San Diego, helped the pair tailor the shark. Based on the drone’s distance from the sea surface and the cropping factor, he calculated a length of about 1.5 meters – about the right size for a newborn baby.

However, some other marine biologists cautioned against jumping to the conclusion that it was definitely a newborn great white shark. This is how Dr. Chris Lowe from California State University’s shark laboratory told the BBC that there were other explanations for the white layer. “Sure, it could be a newborn shark, or a shark with a skin disease, or any number of other things we haven’t thought of yet,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is a sample of only one person. I think many scientists would agree that we need a lot more evidence to consider this area as a place to raise puppies.”

In a report on their discovery, Sternes and Gauna acknowledged that the shark may be suffering from a skin disease. However, Sternes wrote: “The special thing about this shark is that it has a white coating.” He researched this extensively in the literature, but could not find anything consistent. So it could be an unknown skin condition that has never been documented before, which would also be unique, says Sternes. However, the pair believe this theory ignores the other evidence from Gauna’s images: the shape of the shark’s fins and their size.

Gauna has become known on YouTube as ‘TheMalibuArtist’ and uses his drone to take fantastic aerial photos of sharks. His YouTube videos, which have been viewed tens of millions of times, often show great white sharks swimming dangerously close to people. “That sometimes increases my heart rate. “I’ve never seen a shark become aggressive or exhibit aggressive behavior around a human, but that’s just human instinct,” Gauna says of his work. Armed with his drone and a lot of patience, he now hopes that one day he will be the first to film the birth of a shark.