Canada's The Chronicle Herald announced that a "scary gigantic" great white shark was spotted by a ship of whale watchers on Aug 17, 2011 in the Bay of Fundy off Brier Island, Nova Scotia. According to the report, Fulton Lavender, a Nova Scotia Bird Society naturalist claims that the shark was over 25 in his personal opinion.
Initially, Fulton thought the shark to be a basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), which can usually grow to lengths of over 25. But, after seeing photographs of the shark taken by a tourist aboard the whale-watching boat, Fulton stated that it was "definitely a great white shark." Others aboard the ship announced that the shark had a white belly. While basking sharks don't characteristically have a white belly, white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) do. Fulton also added the photographs taken showed facial patterns and a dorsal fin indicative of a white shark.
The photographer who took the photos of the animal promised to provide Brier Island officials with a copy of a photograph of the animal but has yet to do so.
Adult white sharks are often in the range of 13-17 in length, but reports of great whites reaching 20, though somewhat rare, are not unheard of. A white shark surpassing 25 in length would be way outside the normal size range of the species.
Reid Gillis, a captain for one of the whale watching boats claims he saw the animal jump out of the water 3 times, but he couldn't identify the species as a white shark. The shark was also blamed by a number of the whale watchers for attacking a humpback whale who was seen with "crescent-shaped" wounds. Gillis who saw the injuries on the whale noted that he did not see the shark attack the humpback and couldn't resolve whether the injuries were the result of bite marks.
Canadian shark analyst, Steven Campana, announced it would be highly bizarre for a white shark to attack a healthy adult whale.
Initially, Fulton thought the shark to be a basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), which can usually grow to lengths of over 25. But, after seeing photographs of the shark taken by a tourist aboard the whale-watching boat, Fulton stated that it was "definitely a great white shark." Others aboard the ship announced that the shark had a white belly. While basking sharks don't characteristically have a white belly, white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) do. Fulton also added the photographs taken showed facial patterns and a dorsal fin indicative of a white shark.
The photographer who took the photos of the animal promised to provide Brier Island officials with a copy of a photograph of the animal but has yet to do so.
Adult white sharks are often in the range of 13-17 in length, but reports of great whites reaching 20, though somewhat rare, are not unheard of. A white shark surpassing 25 in length would be way outside the normal size range of the species.
Reid Gillis, a captain for one of the whale watching boats claims he saw the animal jump out of the water 3 times, but he couldn't identify the species as a white shark. The shark was also blamed by a number of the whale watchers for attacking a humpback whale who was seen with "crescent-shaped" wounds. Gillis who saw the injuries on the whale noted that he did not see the shark attack the humpback and couldn't resolve whether the injuries were the result of bite marks.
Canadian shark analyst, Steven Campana, announced it would be highly bizarre for a white shark to attack a healthy adult whale.
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Earlier in the month a tiny white shark was caught accidentally in a fisherman's weir in the Bay of Fundy tides, putting an end point to speculation that the species are now present in the Fundy region.
