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National Geographic
2 days ago
- Science
- National Geographic
A century ago, there was a race to make the first color photos. Now there's a race to save them.
The revolutionary invention of autochromes changed photography. As those pictures decay, they're revealing a new kind of beauty. First digitized in 2008 (left), this 1937 photo of a dance performance in Mississippi was created using Dufaycolor, an early color-film product. By 2023, it had been transformed by a form of chemical deterioration known as vinegar syndrome. Photograph by J. Baylor Roberts, National Geographic Image Collection In the early 1980s, the late National Geographic Society photographer turned archivist Volkmar Wentzel was delving through storage when he stumbled onto something both breathtaking and heartbreaking: a box of delicate glass panels, most of them the size of postcards, displaying color images captured in the early 20th century. Many were deteriorating, their once crisp scenes speckled with ghostly snowflakes, obscured by halos, and otherwise rendered surreal by time and neglect. They were autochromes, the products of a turn-of-the-20th-century race to capture the world in all its color. And now the race was on to preserve them, even as time transformed them in extraordinary ways. Introduced in 1907 by French inventors Auguste and Louis Lumière, autochrome technology was revolutionary in its day, relying on a light-sensitive silver emulsion covered with a fine layer of potato starch. That powdery extract—then popular as thickener, adhesive, and fabric stiffener—was crucial to capturing the chroma of the era. Microscopic particles dyed green, orange, and violet were scattered across a plate and sealed on with varnish. When light struck the plate through a camera's open shutter, each colored granule blocked a range of wavelengths corresponding to colors of the visible spectrum, exposing the emulsion beneath to countless tiny dots of variously filtered light. Some autochromes—early 20th-century color photos on glass plates—now have freckles from oxidizing silver particles, as in this undated, unidentified landscape. Unknown Photographer, National Geographic Image Collection After a few chemical baths in a darkroom, the transparency that appeared on glass was, seen up close, a pointillistic mosaic. But pull back and shine light through the plate—covered with another glass layer, for protection—and a vivid, painterly image emerged. National Geographic magazine's first full-time editor was an autochrome champion, commissioning and procuring glass plate works from photographers around the world. Because exposure times were long, much of early color photography consists of still lifes and landscapes, but National Geographic acquired dynamic images of life as it's lived: of crowded bazaars in Albania, of masked dancers in Tibet, of riders atop brightly garbed elephants in India. Autochromes, together with similar processes involving glass plates, remained the primary means of making color photos until the 1935 debut of Kodachrome film, with its layers of emulsion that were themselves photosensitive. In the film era, the Society's glass plates were not carefully preserved. Wentzel, during more than 40 years as a National Geographic field photographer, saw value in the old photos while many of his peers were focused on innovation. When the Society thinned its collection in the 1960s, he rescued plates from the trash, taking them home for safekeeping and eventual return to the archive. Others simply moldered, forgotten, until Wentzel rediscovered them in off-site storage upon becoming the Society's first official photo archivist, in 1980. A Syrian desert patrol on camelback visits the ruins of Palmyra in a 1938 Dufaycolor. This version was scanned in 2012, before its acetate film began visibly degrading. Photograph by W. Robert Moore, National Geographic Image Collection In the past 13 years, the telltale blotch of vinegar syndrome has set in. 'Dufays' and autochromes are kept in cold storage today, which slows but doesn't halt such deterioration. Photograph by W. Robert Moore, National Geographic Image Collection Wentzel made it a mission to preserve, catalog, and exhibit the old photos, and today National Geographic's Early Color Photography Collection comprises some 13,000 plates, including one of the world's largest assemblages of autochromes (the largest is at the Musée Albert-Kahn, outside Paris). But as with many remaining early color photos, National Geographic's have been altered by light, heat, humidity, and improper handling. Plates have cracked and fissured. Oxidizing silver particles have created radiant, amoeba-shaped orange blotches. On the autochrome descendants known as Dufaycolors, violet bruises are evidence of 'vinegar syndrome,' a chemical decay affecting layers of film between glass. Named for its telltale scent and contagious from plate to plate, vinegar syndrome is 'a plague amongst photographic archives,' says Sara Manco, director of the National Geographic Society's photo and illustration archives. Degrading always sounds bad, but they're also developing, from documentary objects into a weird science-history project. Rebecca Dupont , National Geographic image archivist It all sounds rather tragic, but the blemishes also have given many of the plates a strange new beauty. No longer pristine documents of history, they've become testaments to the ravages of time: abstracted, fragmented, and obscured, like so many ancient and admired artifacts. What's more, says image archivist Rebecca Dupont, witnessing the deterioration—a process that will only ever play out once—offers lessons about the science behind these objects. 'If you think about it, photography is still a relatively new medium, only 150 years old,' Dupont says. And the objects in the collection 'haven't yet reached the end of their lives. They're in a special stage right now where we get to see what happens to them.' (These 18 autochrome photos will transport you to another era.) Exposure to humidity caused this Dufaycolor to fade and its film base to shrivel. As National Geographic archivist Sara Manco says, 'We'll never know what that image was like.' Photograph by Rudolf Balogh, National Geographic Image Collection Even as the plates continue to deteriorate, some measure of permanence has been achieved. With a 2020 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Manco and a team of archivists spent three years digitizing the entire collection. These days, the originals are carefully organized in temperature-controlled storage. Those afflicted with vinegar syndrome are sequestered, and many broken ones have been painstakingly pieced together. Despite all that care, the archivists know they can't preserve the plates forever—and they're OK with that. 'Degrading always sounds bad, but they're also developing, from documentary objects into a weird science-history project,' Dupont says. 'Are the images we're looking at being lost? Or are they just being changed into something new?' A version of this story appears in the August 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine.
National Geographic
4 days ago
- Science
- National Geographic
The Genographic Project® Geno 2.0 Next Generation Helix Product Privacy Policy
This policy has been updated to reflect new contact information. Please note that National Geographic stopped selling Geno kits on May 31, 2019 and is no longer processing results. Please see the FAQ page for more information. Effective November 21st, 2016 The Genographic Project began in 2005 and is a research project carried out by the National Geographic Society's scientific team to reveal patterns of human migration. The project is carried out in partnership with National Geographic Partners, LLC, whose activities include managing the sale of the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product and operation of the website. National Geographic Partners, LLC is a joint venture of the National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox. Throughout this document, the terms 'National Geographic,' 'we' or 'our' or 'us' refer to National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners, LLC collectively. This Privacy Policy describes how we use, share and protect the information we receive from and about you when you use the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product and what choices you have about how that information is used. As discussed below in the section entitled Treatment of Non-Genetic Personal Information, information that is not what we define as Genographic Genetic Information or Self-Reported Information, including information we collect from and about you when you visit our other websites or purchase the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product, is governed by the privacy policy posted on the website or app on which that information is collected. Information We Collect From and About You When you purchase the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product, you will receive a saliva collection kit from our partner Helix, who handles sample collection, DNA sequencing and secure data storage for the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product. When you return your saliva sample to Helix, Helix will sequence your DNA as described in the Helix Platform Consent and Helix Terms of Service. That sequence is your 'Genetic Information.' Helix will share with National Geographic the portion of your Genetic Information needed by National Geographic to provide you with your deep ancestry insights (we're calling this your 'Genographic Genetic Information'). You must be 18 or older to use the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product. Getting Your Results To use the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product, you must give consent to Helix for Helix to share the portion of your Genetic Information needed by National Geographic to provide you with your Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product deep ancestry insights results. By agreeing to the Helix Platform Consent, you will authorize Helix to share this information. You must also register on the Genographic website at When your results are available, you will be notified via the email address you provided when you registered on the Helix website or, if you have already registered with you will be notified via the email address you have on record with At that point, you may view your results through your account at This process may take approximately six to twelve weeks from the time you mail your saliva sample to the Helix lab. (Please note that in some cases, inconclusive data may occasionally require additional testing and might delay posting of results by two to three additional weeks.) How National Geographic Uses Your Information Providing You With Deep Ancestry Insights National Geographic's analysis of your Genographic Genetic Information will produce your deep ancestry insights. Deep ancestry is your ancestry from hundreds or even thousands of years ago. It's based on the paths your ancient ancestors took to migrate around the world. As noted above, we're calling these results your Genographic Genetic Information. Treatment of Non-Genetic Personal Information Information we collect from and about you when you visit National Geographic's other websites or purchase the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product or other products, such as your full name, email address, mailing address, or consumer product preferences, is 'Non-Genetic Personal Information.' Non-Genetic Personal Information does not include Genographic Genetic Information. National Geographic's treatment of Non-Genetic Personal Information is governed by the privacy policy posted on the National Geographic website or app on which the information is collected, and not this privacy policy, which applies only to the Genographic Genetic Information as that term is used herein and any email address you provided to participate in the Genographic program. Improving the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product National Geographic is dedicated to providing current, reliable, and high-quality experiences. We will use the information you give us for quality control and to improve the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product and Genographic website. Some of these improvements may focus on how we analyze your Genographic Genetic Information. Some may focus on how we store and send your Genographic Genetic Information. Some of these improvements may focus on how easy it is to use the Genographic website. All information used for quality control will be used only within National Geographic. Storing and Sharing Your Information Genographic Genetic Information National Geographic Society will store your Genographic Genetic Information and any email address you provided to participate in the Genographic program in our DNA Analysis Repository. The DNA Analysis Repository is a central database that manages DNA data from around the world for the Genographic Project. National Geographic Society may provide access to the Genographic Genetic Information to third parties that provide services necessary for the functionality of the Geno 2.0 Next Gen Helix Product. This may include services to improve the interpretation of the Genographic Genetic Information to provide ancestry-related results. National Geographic Society will not use the Genographic Genetic Information for scientific research or share it or your email address with third parties for scientific research without your separate, express consent. National Geographic Society will keep your Genographic Genetic Information until you ask us to destroy it. You can ask us to do so by sending an email to genographic@ If you still want access to your results, you must print or copy them. Once we destroy your information, you will not be able to access your results from National Geographic again. Please note that requesting National Geographic Society to destroy your Genographic Genetic Information affects only the information we hold. If you would like Helix to destroy any information they hold or to close your Helix account, you must make a separate request to Helix. National Geographic Society may disclose your Genographic Genetic Information and any email address you provided to participate in the Genographic program in response to legal process and when we believe that doing so is required by law, may be necessary to protect any person's property, rights, or safety, or to investigate a potential violation of law. Choosing to take part in research When you log onto the Genographic website to access your results, you may be given the opportunity to consent to participate in a major global research effort by National Geographic Society to collect population genetic data from hundreds of thousands of individuals from around the world. If you agree to contribute your results to this effort, your Genographic Genetic Information will be made available to National Geographic Society-affiliated and third party researchers for research purposes. If you agree to contribute your results to this scientific research effort, National Geographic may ask you to provide Self-Reported Information in the My Profile section of the Genographic website. Self-Reported Information is other details about you that you choose to supply to National Geographic. This may include details about your family tree. Participation in the research and whether you provide any Self-Reported Information to National Geographic is your choice and is not necessary in order to access your individual test results. Security We take a number of commercially reasonable administrative, technical, personnel and physical steps to safeguard information in our possession from loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure or modification. 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New York Post
5 days ago
- Science
- New York Post
Underwater expedition unveils new photos of World War II destroyer sunk in pivotal battle
Maritime experts on an expedition around the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific recently explored the wreckage of the USS Laffey, a destroyer sunk during a pivotal series of battles in World War II. According to the USS Laffey Association, the ship went down on Nov. 13, 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and currently rests upright about half a mile beneath the surface in a region known as the Iron Bottom Sound — a graveyard for dozens of ships and hundreds of planes lost during the six-year-long global conflict. Advertisement The latest mission, expedition NA173, was conducted by the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust and supported by NOAA. Over a stretch of 21 days, researchers used a remotely operated vehicle and sophisticated imaging technology to survey the wreckage and other historic sites. Photos released by the team show the Laffey still sitting upright on the seafloor with much of her bow and midsection intact despite more than 80 years underwater. Among the discoveries was a plaque that is still legible, showing the ship's name and builder information despite decades of exposure on the bottom of the Pacific. Advertisement The ship's wreckage was originally discovered in 1992 during a National Geographic Society expedition led by renowned oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard, who is most famous for locating the Titanic in 1985. 5 Maritime experts on an expedition around the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific recently explored the wreckage of the USS Laffey. Ocean Exploration Trust 5 Photos released by the team show the Laffey still sitting upright on the seafloor with much of her bow and midsection intact despite more than 80 years underwater. Ocean Exploration Trust 5 Among the discoveries was a plaque that is still legible, showing the ship's name and builder information despite decades of exposure on the bottom of the Pacific. Ocean Exploration Trust Advertisement Since that initial discovery, the Laffey has been explored less than a handful of times, making this latest adventure a unique opportunity to document the wreckage's condition. According to the USS Laffey Association, a torpedo led to the ship's demise after sailors engaged several Japanese battleships in a ferocious battle. Historical records indicate that 59 sailors were killed or lost during the attack on the ship, with more than 100 wounded. 5 The ship's wreckage was originally discovered in 1992 during a National Geographic Society expedition led by renowned oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard. Ocean Exploration Trust Advertisement 5 According to the USS Laffey Association, the ship went down on Nov. 13, 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and currently rests upright about half a mile beneath the surface in a region known as the Iron Bottom Sound. Naval History and Heritage Command Historians say during the broader conflict, located more than 1,000 miles northeast of Australia, some 20,000 lives were claimed from both the Axis and Allied powers. Researchers believe at least 111 ships and 1,450 planes were lost in the region during the war, but only a small fraction of these wrecks have been thoroughly explored or documented. During the three-week-long exploratory mission, experts also investigated the wrecks of Australia's HMAS Canberra — the largest warship ever lost in battle by the Royal Australian Navy — and several other sites belonging to the U.S. and Japan.
National Geographic
5 days ago
- National Geographic
See 100 years of New York City—through the lens of Nat Geo photographers
As New York City celebrates the 400th anniversary of its founding, National Geographic looks back on more than a century of covering the spirited metropolis. NOVEMBER 1957 A replica of the Mayflower sails into New York Harbor in July 1957 amid fanfare, escorted by planes, boats, and even a blimp. The vessel had crossed the Atlantic, following the route of the original ship to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where 17th-century English Puritan separatists started a colony. B. ANTHONY STEWART, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION In the summer of 1957, a replica of the Mayflower sailed into New York Harbor. Dubbed the Mayflower II, it had just finished retracing the Pilgrims' 1620 journey across the Atlantic to establish a colony in America. New York City celebrated its arrival with a ticker-tape parade. That November, National Geographic published an article written by the ship's captain about the Mayflower II's voyage, full of photos of its ocean journey and a victorious arrival in New York City (which was not a stop on the original ship's route to Plymouth, Massachusetts). As the city this year celebrates the 400th anniversary of its founding as the Dutch outpost New Amsterdam, National Geographic looked back on its coverage of the city over the last century. An early article highlighted its draws. 'It has more Irish and their sons and daughters than Dublin, more Italians and their children than Rome,' the author wrote. 'But New York's appeal is as much to the people of the United States as to those of the outer world ... New York is indeed the Niagara of American life ... so through this city passes the vast river of humanity that seeks the sea of opportunity in the world beyond.' (How to explore New York City's immigrant past through its food.) JULY 1918 Throngs fill the streets at an area then known as Newspaper Row, near a station that deposited commuters in Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. EDWIN LEVICK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION National Geographic often has showed readers parts of the world they might never visit—and in the magazine's early days that included not just distant lands but the vibrant metropolis of New York City. 'Most people didn't get the opportunity to travel a lot or to travel really far,' says Cathy Hunter, senior archivist at the National Geographic Society. In a sense, Hunter says, the magazine did 'the legwork for you and showing you the most famous sites.' Many of the magazine's first stories about the city focused on architecture, people, and culture—elements that lent the armchair travel experience. AUGUST 1998 Symbolizing prosperity and driving away evil, lion figures dance in the Lunar New Year parade. A 1998 article chronicled the growth of New York's Chinese community, which was 3 percent of the city's population at the time. CHIEN-CHI CHANG, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION SEPTEMBER 1990 Underneath Broadway Street, off-duty Santas wait at the subway station. JODI COBB, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION 'Go up on any high hotel roof after sunset and watch the city come to life,' wrote the author of the 1930 article 'This Giant That Is New York.' 'By electric moons, rainbows, and fixed comets you see Manhattan blaze from dusk into gorgeous theatrical illumination.' The editorial focus shifted over time as the magazine began to cover more relevant angles: environmental issues like water pollution and landfills, and later, how the September 11 terrorist attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the city. Yet one of the constants in National Geographic coverage, which spans over a century, is change. In a 2015 article called 'New New York,' writer Pete Hamill reflected on the 80 years he'd lived in the city and the transformation of its skyline. 'We New Yorkers know that we live in a dynamic city,' he wrote, 'always changing, evolving, building.' AUGUST 2020 From a helicopter, photographer Stephen Wilkes peered at his hometown in the early days of the pandemic, including Central Park with its new field hospital (lower left). 'New York is like a river, always running with energy and motion,' he said. 'When you see New York empty, it doesn't make any sense.' STEPHEN WILKES, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION National Geographic published its first major article about New York City in the July 1918 issue. Called 'New York—The Metropolis of Mankind,' it gave readers a broad overview of the city just as it was rising to global prominence in the final months of World War I. 'A city which the Great War has made the Earth's international trading center and civilization's crowning metropolis,' the article proclaimed, 'Gotham now commands a new interest, arouses a new pride in its achievements, excites a new feeling of wonder, and stirs in every American breast a realization that it is a city of all the people, national in all its aspects.' (Explore New York City through the 700 languages spoken on its streets.) 'The Metropolis of Mankind' came out at a time when National Geographic was becoming synonymous for publishing photos that held appeal for those armchair travelers, Hunter says. Readers could gaze in awe at the size of a crowd in front of the New York Stock Exchange, wonder at the length of a traffic jam of cars (and at least one horse) on 42nd Street, and take in a full view of the Woolworth Building—which, at nearly 242 meters, was then the tallest building in the world. A view of the intersection at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street—a traffic jam of cars, pedestrians, and horses all attempting to share the road. This issue came out at a time when National Geographic was becoming synonymous for photos that appealed to armchair travelers, KADEL & HERBERT, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION New York City streets looked quite a bit different a hundred years later in this aerial view of the Hudson River Greenway. The most heavily used bike path in the country, it stretches from Battery Park in the south to Dyckman Street in the north. George Steinmetz, National Geographic Image Collection And the buildings kept getting taller. The 1930 feature 'This Giant That Is New York' showed readers the new tallest building in the world, the 319-meter Chrysler Building, which had opened earlier that year. It also offered a glimpse of the ongoing construction of the Empire State Building, which promised to be even bigger. 'Tourist Manhattan' As National Geographic's popularity grew, it continued to serve as inspiration but also began to support real-life travelers in navigating the Big Apple. When New York City hosted its first World's Fair, in April 1939, that month's issue of the magazine came with a supplemental map called 'The Reaches of New York City.' The next time the World's Fair rolled around, in 1964, National Geographic sent subscribers a two-part map of 'Greater New York' and 'Tourist Manhattan.' (What was Manhattan like in the Roaring Twenties? See for yourself.) The magazine began to explore areas of New York City around this time. In 1959, the magazine ran a piece on the Staten Island Ferry, dubbing it New York's Seagoing Bus and highlighting its essential role for commuters from that borough. In 1977, it published a story about Harlem by Frank Hercules, a Trinidad-born writer who moved to the neighborhood in the 1940s. 'To live in Harlem,' he wrote, 'is sometimes to hear the siren song of success, often to be denied by heaven and disdained by hell, yet always to hope anew each morning, whatever yesterday's despair.' DECEMBER 1960 The casts of A Raisin in the Sun and My Fair Lady face off during a Broadway Show League softball game in Central Park during a 12-game season. BATES LITTLEHALES, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION MAY 1993 A lunch-hour napper rests in Central Park in the opening photo from an article about the sprawling 341-hectare oasis in the city. JOSÉ AZEL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION In both 1960 and 1993, the magazine featured stories on Central Park that countered the iconic park's reputation at the time as a crime haven—a myth that often turned tourists away from visiting the park. The '93 story blamed the media for its role in perpetuating this myth and instead described the park as an 'oasis in the city.' Modern coverage Starting around the 1970s, another trend emerged: amid an awakening environmental movement, the magazine began to cover more of the issues for which it's known today. Hunter says this reflected a changing editorial outlook. 'In the early days…the magazine did not do stories that were not pretty,' she says. SEPTEMBER 2002 New York City resident Lisa Adams holds photos she took from her terrace on September 11, 2001, near the former World Trade Center buildings. IRA BLOCK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION In 1978 the article 'Hudson: 'That River's Alive'' focused on the high pollution levels from the 1960s that had led to state and federal efforts to clean the Hudson River and other U.S. waterways. By 1978, the Hudson River had rebounded and saw a proliferation of aquatic life, prompting fishermen interviewed for the article to comment, 'That river's alive.' A 1991 story about landfills addressed the growing problems posed by sites such as Staten Island's Fresh Kills. (Decades later, the city is redeveloping it into Freshkills Park, which promises to be three times the size of Central Park.) Other articles focused on a city whose residents were in crisis. A year after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, National Geographic ran a piece featuring first-person stories from two people who lived in zip code 10013, right next to the World Trade Center. Two decades later, in August 2020, the magazine published photos of a markedly less bustling New York City amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as both residents and tourists stayed home. In more than a century of coverage, National Geographic depicted a New York City that is not only a thrilling place to visit but a real place with real people who call it home. In Pete Hamill's 2015 reflection on his decades as a New Yorker, he described his first time visiting the interior of One World Trade Center—built on the former site of the Twin Towers, whose destruction he had witnessed in person. 'I moved closer to the windows and looked down,' he wrote. 'There it was, the Woolworth Building. My favorite. Still here. Changing color in the fading sun.' JULY 1918 A view of the Woolworth Building in New York City. At the time, it was the tallest building in the world, standing at nearly 242 meters—but would within decades be eclipsed by the rise of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. PAUL THOMPSON, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION
National Geographic
14-07-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
What this one-of-a-kind great white shark photo may say about Maine's future
National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry has logged more than 10,000 hours under water—but he's never before snapped a photo of a great white in Maine before. A juvenile great white shark, about 10 feet long, swims beneath the surface about 15 miles off the coast of Harpswell, Maine. Photograph by Brian Skerry The nonprofit National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world, funded Explorer Brian Skerry's work through a collaboration with Builders Vision. Learn more about the Society's support of Explorers. As soon as National Geographic photographer and explorer Brian Skerry locked eyes with the enormous animal, he knew immediately what was staring back at him. 'There's no mistaking that face,' he says. A nearly 10-foot long great white shark was just four feet away. Sharks tagged with tracking devices have been documented off the U.S. coast of Maine, but Skerry thinks this is the first underwater photo of one here. Skerry started diving in these waters around 50 years ago. Since then, he's spent more than 10,000 hours underwater , photographing marine animals from above and below the water. Once rare, great whites are now flourishing in the Gulf of Maine, which stretches from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Nova Scotia, Canada. While these growing numbers might make it easier to see or photograph a shark in nearby waters, experts say the risk of being bitten by a great white remains low. A brief encounter Skerry's encounter on July 8 was fleeting. 'Maybe three minutes,' he says. 'Then she was gone, and we never saw her again.' Luckily, his camera was ready. He snapped a photo of what he suspects is a juvenile, mouth slightly open and white belly glowing against the eerie green water. Her surface reflection hovered above her like a halo. 'White sharks have always been here,' says John Chisholm, a marine biologist at the New England Aquarium in Boston who says this is the first confirmed underwater photo of a great white shark he's seen in Maine. In the Gulf of Maine, great whites have been recorded in historic fisheries data and 1,000-year-old teeth have been found in archaeological digs, but trophy fishing and commercial bycatch in the 1970s and 1980s may have caused populations to decline by around 73 percent. In 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act created legal protections for seals and thereby protected one of the key prey species great whites feed on. Over two decades later, in 1997, the National Marine Fisheries service began more tightly regulating and in some cases prohibiting shark fishing, a protective regulation Massachusetts strengthened in 2005 after the state banned the possession and sale of lucrative shark fins. They are now protected throughout their Northwest Atlantic range–it's illegal to catch, keep, or possess a white shark in U.S. waters. This helped great white populations rebound. Scientists recorded over 100 individual great whites in Maine waters between 2012 and 2023. 'We started seeing both seals and white sharks in more and more numbers than we had ever seen in recent memory on the Cape,' says Camrin Braun, assistant scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's marine predators group. Braun is also unaware of any previous such image of a great white in Maine. A fatal shark bite in 2020, the first in the state's history, made the public aware that there were even white sharks off the coast, he adds. Could warming sea surface temperatures be luring more sharks to Maine's coastline? The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 97 percent of the world's oceans. 'It's one of the global epicenters for warming,' says Braun. Warmer waters might allow juveniles to travel further north into waters that were once too cold for great whites, though Chisholm thinks an increase in shark numbers is more likely to result from conservation regulations. More sightings might also be the result of more people on the water with a digital phone camera. Twenty years ago, it could take Chisholm days, weeks, or even years to confirm a sighting. Now he receives dozens a day through the Sharktivity app. And while a new photo of a great white has now surfaced, it's no indication that New England beachgoers should now be more fearful of setting foot in the ocean. There's a higher risk of being hurt while driving to the beach than getting bitten by a great white shark in the water, Chisholm says. We can coexist with sharks if we are mindful 'in the way that somebody in Alaska walks in the woods knowing there might be a grizzly bear,' Skerry says. 'We can learn to appreciate these animals, even if we don't want to swim out and give them a hug.' To be shark smart, don't swim alone, in murky water, or if you see seals or big schools of bait. Avoid swimming at dawn and dusk and don't 'make a commotion… That can attract a shark,' Chisholm says. As apex predators, sharks play a vital role in keeping the ocean healthy, but they face more danger from us than we do from them. Humans kill over 100 million sharks each year, says Skerry: 'The only truly scary ocean would be one without sharks in it.'
