Journal of the twentyfirst day on board

23rd May, 1999

From today I'm receiving questions about this "mamma shark" from the Gulf of Taranto.
The situation I told is out of the ordinary, but not that much. I don't want to transmit to those reading the anthropomorphic idea of a small shark family swimming cheerfully in the middle of the sea.
The shark does not look after her offspring, does not suckle them, does not teach them, does not protect them.
As a result, for many types of shark their first enemy is their mother.
Big sharks eat little sharks, whether they are family or not.
So nature has invented a strategy to help the mother from devouring her children and sending the species into extinction: it has removed its appetite during period of birth, avoiding, therefore, any "errors".

This appetite remains, however, unchanged in male sharks and for this reason, in general, the females reproduce where there are no male sharks in the so-called "nursery".

Having encountered a very small 'verdesca' it made me think that the birth had happened nearby. It was probably the case. So, a nursery for 'verdesche' in the Gulf of Taranto? Perhaps. It is known that in many parts of the Mediterranean, for example in the upper Adriatic, the 'verdesche' do reproduce. But in the Gulf of Taranto are births fortuitous? Or is the Gulf of Taranto another nursery for the 'verdesche'?

It is too early to say. It's up to the researchers to prove it.