Editor’s note: This article contains images of a deceased shark carcass.
The carcass of a nearly 10-foot-long Great White Shark was found on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Pointe-Sapin, New Brunswick.
The male shark was found about an hour outside of Moncton on Monday, October 16, while photographer Pierrette Landry was walking along the beach near Kouchibouguac National Park.
Charity organization ORS Shark Science Requins says the shark had “minor and typical Great White Shark scarring” and claimed the male shark did not show any “apparent injuries.”
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ORS says that although beached shark sightings are rare in New Brunswick, it is nevertheless “normal for some sharks to die for various reasons before reaching adulthood.”
The presence of Great White Sharks — an endangered species — in the Bay of St. Lawrence is not unique, says the ORS, and that several marked sharks are currently in the Gulf and could remain there throughout November before returning to winter ranges off the US Coast.
Photos, courtesy of Landry, triggered the ORS to get involved shortly after the shark was discovered.
Photo © Pierrette Landry (Courtesy of ORS Shark Science Requins)
Photo © Pierrette Landry (Courtesy of ORS Shark Science Requins)
Photo © Pierrette Landry (Courtesy of ORS Shark Science Requins)
The ORS says it has received several comments regarding blood around the shark’s mouth. The organization says since the carcass was still fresh when the photos were taken, the blood could be a result of internal injury or compression of the body — especially internal organs — when the shark failed to get back into the sea.
“There is no point in speculating,” says the ORS. “Without a necropsy, we’ll never know the cause.”
Because there is a big migration of seals in New Brunswick and northern Quebec, Great White Sharks are on the hunt for food. Jeffrey Gallant, a scientific director of the ORS, says this is the most intact species of Great White he’s seen in 20 years.
Gallant says it’s possible that shark sightings off the eastern shore coasts in the coming years will become more likely.
The animal has since been secured by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, a department of the Canadian government.