Are there Great White Sharks in Canada? Many Canadians are surprised to learn that YES, Great White Sharks visit the cool Canadian waters off of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. So for all you beach-going Maritimers out there be warned…you’re not alone in Atlantic Canadian waters.
In fact, Great Whites aren’t the only sharks that can be found in Canadian waters. Mako sharks, Blue sharks, Porbeagle sharks – even giants like the harmless Basking Shark; all visit Canadian waters, especially during the summer months.
A Blue Shark Swimming in the Gulf of Mexico (Photo credit: Public Domain, NOAA)
Shark Attack in Canada
Prior to the summer of 2021, the only confirmed shark attack in Canada was basically a non-event.
Given that these relatively dangerous sharks can be found around the East Coast, it’s surprising that there has never been a documented shark attack in Canadian waters.
The closest thing to a shark attack I could find happened in December 2000 when a diver off of Digby Nova Scotia was collecting sea urchins and a Porbeagle shark grabbed the bag. The shark released the bag and the diver surfaced unscathed.
The diver was a bit shaken after the incident but it was hardly a “shark attack.” Carry a bag of meat through the forest and mountains in Banff and see what kind of animals show up to grab your bag. I’m guessing you’d see bears for sure, maybe even wolves or a mountain lion.
August 2021 Shark Attack in Nova Scotia
Off the western part of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, a 21 year old woman was bitten by what was likely a great white shark. The woman was boating with friends when she went swimming in the waters near Margaree Island. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this area, Margaree Island is home to grey seals as well as a variety of fish and whales. The woman was taken to hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Largest Sharks Ever Caught Were in Canada!
The fact that few people are aware that Canada does have sharks in its coastal waters is surprising since some of the largest sharks ever caught have been caught in Canadian Waters!
Carla Allen took this photo of a record setting Mako Shark that was caught in the annual shark derby off Yarmouth Nova Scotia in 2004.
This monster shark weighed in at 1082 lbs and was over 10 feet long. It’s hard to imagine that this shark was cruising off the coast of Nova Scotia…and I thought the Giant Mako Shark in Deep Blue Sea was scary!
Image courtesy of Carla Allen
This giant Mako Shark seems impressive but as you’ll see below an even bigger Great White Shark was accidentally caught in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off the coast of Prince Edward Island in 1983.
Great White Sharks In Canada
Yes, there are great white sharks in Canada. Occasionally there will be sightings in the coastal waters of British Columbia.
These sharks wander from their traditional hunting grounds off the coast of Northern California and Oregon.
More commonly, great white sharks in Canada are found off of the East Coast in the waters off Canada’s Maritime provinces. This includes the waters off of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Great White Sharks in New Brunswick
Great White Sharks are cruising New Brunswick waters. Here’s a snapshot of some recent sightings:
A large Great White Shark followed a couple canoeing Passamaquoddy Bay June 2018.
A 15 foot Great White Shark was spotted by a fishing boat off St Andrews in August 2016.
“George” a 10 foot great white shark, that was tagged in New England, was detected off the coast of Saint John NB in Aug 2016.
Here’s a video of a great white shark taken in St. Andrews in July, 2014:
Of course, there is also the famous New Brunswick legend of the largest Great White Shark ever caught. It was caught in fishing weir on Grand Manan Island, at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy in the 1930’s and supposedly measured 37 feet long.
While this event actually happened, the size of the so-called “monster shark” was actually much smaller than the gargantuan length of 37 feet.
Experts analyzed a tooth that was kept as a souvenir and estimated the shark’s actual size as 16-18 feet.
The only shark in New Brunswick waters that could even come close to the 37 feet would be a Basking Shark; which are harmless surface feeders. Still, I’ve seen an 18 foot great white shark up close at Guadalupe Island in Mexico and it was freakin huge!
It’s clear that there are great white sharks in the Bay of Fundy during the summer month into Fall. But the Bay of Fundy is freezing cold and not exactly where people go swimming so the presence of white sharks there doesn’t pose a huge public safety risk.
Of greater concern would be if Great White Sharks were cruising the much warmer waters of the Northumberland Strait. That would pose a risk to beaches from Summerside PEI to Shediac and Cap-Pele.
Each year tens of thousands of people flock to those beaches and there has never, ever been a shark attack. So whatever the white sharks are after, it isn’t at Parlee Beach!
Great White Sharks in Nova Scotia
Are Great White Sharks taking over Nova Scotia? Not quite, but there seems to be a lot more sightings than before. Here’s a snapshot of some recent sightings:
A great white shark named “Hilton” was tracked off of Mahone Bay in August 2017. Another one was spotted in St Margarets Bay attacking harbour porpoises.
Yet another great white, named “Pumpkin,” was tracked to the New Minas Basin in July 2017.
In July 2018 an estimated 10 foot Great White Shark snatched a Bass from a fishing line of a couple who were fishing just off of Economy Nova Scotia in the New Minas Basin.
There has even been some recorded attacks on boats by Great White sharks. A great white shark attacked a small boat off of Cape Breton in 1953. 1 man drowned as a result and a second swam to shore. A tooth pulled from the hull proved it to be a great white shark.
Many Great White Sharks off Nova Scotia have been cruising by Sable Island. With its massive seal colony, Sable island is the perfect place for white sharks to hunt seals.
According to the CBC, researchers have placed satellite tags on a few great whites to track their movements around the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. The movement patterns in Canadian waters indicated to scientist that the great white sharks’ behaviour was consistent with seal hunting.
Great White Sharks in Prince Edward Island
Photo credit: Canadian Shark Research Laboratory
One of the largest Great White shark ever caught was caught off of Alberton, PEI in 1983. The shark measured an astounding 6.1 meters (over 20 feet) and was absolutely massive.
Here’s another shot of the largest great white shark ever caught up to that time.
Photo credit: Canadian Shark Research Laboratory
What are Great White Sharks Doing in Atlantic Canada?
These great white sharks aren’t eating swimmers so what are they eating? Most likely they’re feeding on tuna and other fish, seals, whales and porpoises – all of which are commonly found in Canadian waters.
Overall, the Atlantic seal population is rebounding and so is the population of Great White Sharks. The populations of both species were decimated due to hunting and over fishing and after years of conservation efforts, their numbers are rebounding.
So it’s a lesson in how conservation can work. Hopefully they can fully recover.
Over the course of the past decade, there’s been a resurgence of Great White Shark activity all along the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada.
White Sharks have been tagged off of Cape Cod and the satellite data has revealed that these sharks travel great distances. In the summer months they travel as far north as the Bay of Fundy, Sable Island and even into the Gulf of St Lawrence.
In winter months they’re cruising off the coast of Florida and the Carolinas.
The return of the great white shark to Atlantic Canada should be cause for celebration not alarm. There’s no question that sharks (like every other animal on earth) can be dangerous in certain circumstances. However, it’s really important to separate the myth of the monster man-eating shark from the reality: it’s just a fish stupid!
We share this earth with all creatures great and small and our respect and admiration should be extended to sharks as well because they need our protection now more than ever.
Globally, shark populations are declining at an alarming rate. The decline is due to over-fishing as a result of increased Asian demand for shark fins. So instead of fearing their arrival, let’s extend a warm Canadian welcome to our toothy summer visitors Eh?!
Thanks for reading this article on great white sharks in Canada.
Photo Credit: SharkMunch.com
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