Species → Great White Shark
Great White Shark
Carcharodon carcharias
What if it disappeared?
Impact HighThe gradual disappearance of great white sharks from False Bay between 2015 and 2019 coincided with a rise in Cape fur seals and sevengill sharks, along with a measured 44% drop in small fish populations that seals feed on, and a 72% and 42% decline in two small shark species preyed on by sevengills.
DocumentedDetail
Hammerschlag, N., Herskowitz, Y., Fallows, C. & Couto, T.B.A. (2025). Evidence of cascading ecosystem effects following the loss of white sharks from False Bay, South Africa. Frontiers in Marine Science.
The study combines more than twenty years of boat-based surveys, citizen-science observations of Cape fur seals, and baited underwater video surveys (BRUVS) of fish and small sharks — one of the rare cases where a large shark's decline is documented alongside its cascading effects on at least two lower trophic levels, rather than inferred after the fact.
Why great white sharks specifically deserted False Bay remains debated — specialized predatory orcas, overfishing, and shifting prey populations have all been proposed, without any one yet confirmed as the main cause.
InsufficientDetail
Unlike the cascade mechanism itself (well documented by the same study), the cause of the great white sharks' departure isn't yet settled with certainty — several contributing factors are likely rather than a single identified cause.
Documentation
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Hammerschlag et al. (2025) — Evidence of cascading ecosystem effects following the loss of white sharks from False Bay, South Africa, Frontiers in Marine Science
Accessed August 10, 2026
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IUCN Red List — Carcharodon carcharias, statut de conservation
Accessed August 10, 2026
Last verified: August 14, 2026