Drone footage unveils unprecedented sighting of rare white newborn shark

In a groundbreaking moment for marine biology, a newborn great white shark has been captured in drone footage off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. The sighting, a first-time event in shark science, occurred on July 9, 2023, and was recently made public through footage shot by wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna and Phillip Sternes, a doctoral student at the University of California Riverside.

The 1.5-meter-long (5-foot-long) white shark was observed perilously close to the shore, just 400 meters (1,300 feet) off the coast of Carpinteria. Gauna and Sternes, who were conducting aerial video and images on a fine summer day, were astonished by the unusual coloring and size of the newborn great white shark.

Unlike adult great white sharks with their typical grey and white coloration, this newborn had a distinctive all-white coloring. The wildlife enthusiasts, upon closer examination of the footage, discovered a thin, white film covering the shark, believed to be the shedding of its embryonic layer as it navigated the ocean.

The findings from the drone footage have been published in the Environmental Biology of Fishes. Sternes explained, “We enlarged the images, put them in slow motion, and realized the white layer was being shed from the body as it was swimming. I believe it was a newborn white shark shedding its embryonic layer.”

Gauna emphasized the rarity of capturing a newborn shark in the wild, calling it the “holy grail of shark science.” He expressed optimism about the footage changing the trajectory of shark research, particularly in understanding where white sharks give birth and the significance of conservation efforts in those areas.

If their assessment proves correct, this would mark the first-ever observation of a newborn great white shark in the wild. Gauna highlighted the historical importance, stating, “Where white sharks give birth is one of the holy grails of shark science. No one has ever been able to pinpoint where they are born, nor has anyone seen a newborn baby shark alive.”

While an unknown skin condition is proposed as a potential cause for the shark’s non-traditional color, Gauna and Sternes believe the most plausible explanation is the shark’s status as a newborn.