A member of the second largest species in the world was seen on the north coast of PEI by a group of people returning from a deep water fishing trip last week.
Don Gauthier and his family saw the shark in search of approximately one kilometer and half coast near New London Bay and French River, around 8:30 pm on Thursday.
“My partner was in their binoculars, just saw things, and saw a group of birds flying in this specific area and saw some fins,” Gauthier told CBC News on Monday.
The boat captain said it could be some small whales, so Gauthier took his phone to approach. Remember to have said: “I don’t think those whales; I think it’s a shark.”
It was almost as if he were entertaining us.– Don Gauthier
When the captain cut the boat engines, the fin began to come to the ship.
“That is a shark based on garbage,” said the captain, according to Gauthier. “I have not seen one of those in years.”
Gauthier said the shark approached the boat, moving in a pattern from side to side.
“It was almost as if I were entertaining us. It was very interesting because, you know, it arose and you would see her open her mouth. It was feeding, I suppose, and then I would go down again and return from the other side of the boat.
“It was incredible. I was very surprised by the size of that … I was completely stunned.”
‘A shark trying to be a whale’
The sharks they are looking for are quite large creatures, according to Boris Worm, Professor of Conservation and Marine Biology at the University of Dalhousie in Halifax.
“They are basically a shark trying to be a whale,” Worm said Cetorhinus Maximus.
Gauthier estimated that the shark in search of his family had between 20 and 30 feet long, or seven to 10 meters. Worm said it is a normal size specimen, but sharks can reach up to 12 meters.
He added that there are no accounts of a shark for damage to humans.
In the last 30 years, said Worm, there have only been a few sightings on the north coast of the island in the Gulf of San Lorenzo. He said that sharks they are looking for are not extremely rare, but the species usually swims in deeper waters.
“It’s a very large fish, it moves very slowly and it’s mysterious,” he said.
There are many things that we would love to know about them, but they are very difficult to track.– Boris Worm, University of Dalhousie
“We do not know how many years are, for example. We do not know how many there are. We do not know when its population goes up or down.
“There are many things that we would love to know about them, but they are very difficult to track.”
Worm said that changing climatic conditions could affect where sharks in search of food get their food, possibly taking them to waters outside the north coast to pursue where their prey goes.
He pointed out that a similar change in the food area has already led to the right whale of the North Atlantic in danger of extinction to be more common in the waters of the north, such as those of the Atlantic of Canada.
“It is important that when you see this species to inform these sightings, because each sighting helps us to understand the distribution a little better,” he said about the shark based.
A new perspective
As for Gauthier, he said he had feelings found on the meeting of July 3.
“The initial feeling was definitely a bit of concern, but it happened very fast. When the captain explained to us what we were witnessing, he simply became an astonishment,” he said. “I have never witnessed something like this. This was spectacular.”
He said that being so close to the shark in search of rent gave him a new perspective.
“You realize how small you are in an environment like that, in the water, in the ocean, and you see this beautiful creature. I only hope that people can appreciate the magnitude and be more responsible with the way we treat our climate,” he said.
“These creatures, you know, depend on us in a way. As, our actions really impact them.”
