Warming UK seas may draw great white sharks and later hammerheads to coastal waters

Tracking data from the marine research group OCEARCH shows two great white sharks, a 9-foot male named Quint and a 10-foot female called Bella, swimming off Newfoundland, indicating the species is extending its range northward. Marine scientist Tom Hird explains that as seas warm, sharks relocate to cooler zones that have become suitable, and the UK’s summer temperatures now match their preferred 12-24 °C range. While no confirmed sightings have been reported on British beaches, the presence of abundant grey seals and tuna suggests the sharks may make short, opportunistic feeding trips.

Hird cautions that further temperature rises could push great whites even closer to the Arctic, opening the door for hammerhead sharks, which use magnetic navigation to traverse shallow continental shelves. He emphasizes that these migrations signal a climate-driven disruption rather than a positive expansion of marine life, underscoring the broader impact of warming oceans on ecosystems.