Great white sharks have been noticeably absent from False Bay on the Cape coast during 2019, prompting questions as to when the apex predators will return.

Between 2010 and 2016, shark spotters recorded an average of 205 white shark sightings a year at their operating beaches during spring and summer.

But since then, the numbers have dropped significantly, with only 50 of them seen since the start of 2018. None have been spotted this year.

The city of Cape Town said on Wednesday that it did not have a conclusive reason for the sharks having gone AWOL.

“Great white sharks have been noticeably absent from False Bay on the Cape coast during 2019, prompting questions as to when the apex predators will return,” they said.

“The shark cage diving eco-tourism operators, who would normally witness multiple individual sharks visiting their vessels and up to 30 seal predations daily, have not had a single white shark sighting at Seal Island in 2019.”

They added that there were no traces of bite marks on any of the whale carcasses the city had removed from False Bay this year, which usually indicate feeding patterns.