Why there may be more shark sightings off the coast of N.B.

Off the coast of Nova Scotia, the waves were three metres high, the wind was gusting toward the shore, and Chris Harvey-Clark was under water.

He was scuba diving near the shipwrecked Letitia, south of the Halifax harbour. Just as he was returning to the water's surface, he turned, and there it was, teeth and all — a great white shark.

"It's epic ... a very exciting moment," said Harvey-Clark, the director of animal care at Dalhousie University who specializes in shark studies.

That encounter, which took place at the end of 2021, was up close and personal. But other Atlantic Canadians have also reported seeing sharks in recent years.

'The results of protection' — and lots to eat

In the case of white sharks, we may be seeing more as the result of protection, said Harvey-Clark.

He said a lot of people started hunting sharks after the Second World War and they wanted the biggest ones, which were often the mother sharks.

But white sharks became protected in most federal U.S. waters starting in 1997, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. And in Canada, the species was designated as endangered in 2006 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 

Fast forward to 2023, and it's been 26 years since white sharks became protected in a lot of federal waters — the amount of time it takes for a shark to sexually mature and have babies. 

Plus, there are a record number of seals in the North Atlantic Ocean right now, more than 10 times the number of seals than off the U.S. coast, said Harvey-Clark.

"You've got new babies coming up the line from the big mamas, and you've got lots to eat, and especially north of the [U.S.] border," he said.

WATCH | A close call with a great white shark:

Inquisitive great white shark looks for a meal at N.B. fisherman’s boat

1 year ago

Duration 0:18

Grand Manan resident Andrew Jones was fishing in the Bay of Fundy when this curious white shark approached his boat — and even tried to get a taste.

Difficult to collect data

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy tracked shark populations off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., and identified 393 sharks between 2015 and 2018. 

At the end of July, a group of scientists in that state published a paper showing the estimated population of sharks has increased to about 800.

However, it's difficult to track the total population of an animal that travels through the ocean, Harvey-Clark said.

It's unclear how much of the data from Cape Cod — about 650 kilometres from New Brunswick — can tell us about white shark populations off the province's coast. 

More reported shark sightings

Although it may seem like there's an increased number of sightings of sharks in the North Atlantic, Harvey-Clark said there is little scientific data to back this up. 

However, he does believe that people are taking more videos of sharks because they have access to cellphones and social media to share images and videos of sharks.

There are a lot of sharks native to Atlantic waters, like the blue shark, dogfish shark, mako shark, the porbeagle shark, and the white shark.

There's also an increase in tropical fish as climate change warms waters across the globe, including in the North Atlantic, he said.

"We're also seeing some other species that are more temperate, tropical. We caught a tiger shark off Halifax a couple years ago," said Harvey-Clark. "I just had a photograph of a sand tiger, which is [from] sort of Carolina and south of there."

Word of warning for swimmers

With reports of more shark sightings, Harvey-Clark encourages people to beware of the dangers of swimming in deep water. 

"It's just like walking in Banff National Park where there are grizzlies," he said. "You need to be aware that you're not alone out there in the ocean."

He said people should be careful not to give sharks cues that make them look like something a shark would eat, like seals. That means being cautious about going into water at dawn and dusk and avoiding murky water and drop-offs, and also being aware of where the seals are. 

"Where the seals are is where the predators will be."