Shark Tracker Screensaver
The Shark Tracker screensaver plots recent, scientifically verified shark occurrence records on a world map — pulsing dots colored by species, pulled live and key-less from GBIF, the global open biodiversity data network. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Shark Tracker screensaver works
The saver queries GBIF's occurrence API for the most recent verified shark records worldwide, with no key required.
Each record pulses onto a world map at its recorded coordinates, colored by species, and fades as newer ones arrive.
A running tally in the corner counts sightings by species since you started watching.
Pick a species filter — great white, tiger, hammerhead — or leave it on all sharks for the full mix.
A worked example
Set it to Great white and dots begin landing off South Africa, California and South Australia — the well-known aggregation zones — each one a real logged record, not a simulation.
Settings & tips
- Species narrows the map to one shark species.
- Accent recolours the pulse dots.
- Records can be sparse for rare species — that's real reporting frequency, not a broken feed.
Frequently asked questions
- Are these live tag pings?
- No — GBIF aggregates verified occurrence records (sightings, catches, tagged returns) from museums and researchers worldwide, refreshed continuously but not a real-time GPS tag feed.
- Is a key needed?
- No. GBIF's public API is free and key-less, with no signup.
- Why do some species show few dots?
- Verified records depend on real research and citizen-science reporting, so rarer or deep-water species naturally have fewer entries.
- Does it work offline?
- It needs an internet connection to reach GBIF; without one it shows a waiting state.