Great white sharks attract thousands of visitors to South Africa each year but new research shows that they are edging closer to extinction.

Sky News has had exclusive access to a team operating in Gansbaai on the Western Cape which has been studying the animals.

We accompanied Dr Sara Andreotti as she went about her work compiling the largest genetic and photographic dataset of white sharks in the world.



Dr Andreotti is also part of a team of scientists and shark lovers put together by Dr Craig O'Connell and Michael Rutzen who are trying to create an alternative barrier to protect the sharks - as well as beaches and those in the fishing industry.



The team has developed the Sharksafe Barrier, which is an environmentally-friendly artificial magnetic kelp.

Great White Sharks Under Threat

They have built a small test site in what's known as Shark Alley, off the coast of Gansbaai, where sharks are drawn in by the chance to feed on the area's large seal population.

The team says the Sharksafe Barrier has had a 100% success rate and they are following up interest in the barriers from around South Africa and in Australia and Mozambique.



Dr Andreotti's scientific research has taken her seven years and she says it shows that South Africa's shark population is in double jeopardy.


Not only are there an estimated 353 to 522 of the animals left, but the South African population has the lowest genetic diversity of all white shark populations worldwide. This makes them especially vulnerable to extinction.



Dr Andreotti said: "The numbers are extremely low.

Image: Great white sharks are struggling off the South African coast Pic: Sara Andreotti

"If the situation stays the same, South Africa's great white sharks are headed for possible extinction."



The research was made possible through funding from South Africa's Stellenbosch University and the financial support and logistical assistance of Michael Rutzen and his company Shark Diving Unlimited.



Mr Rutzen and Dr Andreotti worked together collecting shark DNA and taking nearly 5,000 photographs of their dorsal fins. A great white's dorsal fin is like its unique fingerprint with a specific number of notches on its trailing edge.

Dr Andreotti organised the photographs into a database which records the date when the shark was seen. To their shock, once 400 sharks were identified, they struggled to find new ones to photograph.



Dr Andreotti believes one of the main reasons for the sharp decline in white shark numbers is the impact of shark nets and baited hooks legally used on the eastern sea board since the 1950's by the Natal Sharks Board.

Other contributing factors are poaching, habitat encroachment, pollution and depletion of their food sources.