Great white shark migrations
Recorded along temperate coasts — California, South Africa, South Australia, and the northeast Atlantic — following seals and season.
See great white shark dive sites · zoom in and select a glow to open that coast on the dive map
The great white shark year, in real records
Recorded along temperate coasts — California, South Africa, South Australia, and the northeast Atlantic — following seals and season. The map above animates 12,874 recorded observations of Carcharodon carcharias — CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records accessed through GBIF, binned by calendar month, peaking in October. Sightings are history, not a forecast: they show where people have actually seen this animal, which is strong planning context and never a guarantee.
Where the year peaks
The regions holding the most recorded great white shark sightings, and the months when each one runs hottest — computed from the same dataset the map animates.
- Eastern AustraliaJun–Dec9,448 sightingsdive sites here
- California & Pacific NorthwestAug–Nov2,059 sightingsdive sites here