Great White Sharks Have Been Touring Canadian Waters, Including The Gulf Of St. Lawrence
One of the sharks is over ten feet long!
Ocearch team members work to tag a shark, named Ironbound.
Two great white sharks have been spotted off several Canadian coasts this month, including one on August 21, according to Ocearch, a non-profit organization that conducts at-sea research working towards ocean conservation.
One of the sharks casually perusing the Canadian seascape is a massive female great white named Andromache, who measures over ten feet in length. This is Andromache’s first time visiting Canada since she was first tagged in 2020, according to Ocearch.
\u201c#WhiteShark Andromache travels to Canadian waters for the first time! After being tagged off #CapeCod in 2020, we\u2019ve seen her spend her past 2 summers in this region, but this morning she pinged in the Chignecto Bay off #NewBrunswick, Canada!\n\nhttps://t.co/pUmkrgo8f3\u201d— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) 1661104378
She was located in Chignecto Bay, near New Brunswick — pretty far from the cozy waters of Quebec. Andromache isn’t the only great white to visit the Atlantic provinces, though. Tancook, a male juvenile, paid a visit to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on August 18, swimming close to the Northumberland Strait, off the eastern coast of Prince Edward Island.
Tancook is a little shorter than Andromache, but he’s a massive 715 pounds — more than double the older female’s weight. Both sharks have traveled across the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada for thousands of miles – a feat only possible because of their unique biology.
Their skeletons are composed of cartilage, which is lighter than bone, allowing sharks like Andromache to power through the Atlantic ocean with much less energy than a human might require.
\u201cShark skeletons are made of hard, mineralized cartilage, rather than bone. This strong flexible connective tissue is found in humans in places like our nose & ears. Cartilage is less dense than bone & lighter, which reduces the energy needed to move quickly through the water.\u201d— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) 1659560586
Humans do have the distinct ability to travel over land, though, allowing us to learn about these massive, toothy creatures from the safety of a landlocked Montreal apartment building. We may not travel as much as Tancook has this year, but if we’re lucky, more great whites will pay Canada a visit before the summer is over.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.