Curious great white makes waves for N.S. tour passengers

CITYnews halifax / By Rachel Morgan

The waters of the Bay of Fundy were bursting with surprises this week as a tour cruise spotted one of the ocean’s most notorious apex predators.

Mandy Gayle, a guide with Freeport Whale & Seabird Tours, spotted the curious creature on a tour approximately 1.5 miles offshore of Freeport, N.S. on Tuesday Sept. 2.

In her 30 years in the profession, Gayle said this is the first time she’s spotted a great white shark.

“We know that they’re there. We know that there are some white sharks that are tagged in the area,” she told CityNews. “But I’ve never actually seen a white shark before with my eyes.”

The day prior, crews were in the area looking at and taking pictures of a humpback whale that had died and was floating around in the area. When they returned the next day, they found the white shark feasting away.

“It was amazing, I was in disbelief,” Gayle said. “I was sitting there watching it, taking pictures, thinking to myself ‘am I really seeing what I’m seeing?’”

The passengers on board were just as excited.

“There was one little boy on there that when we were done watching it he just kept saying ‘I seen a shark. I seen a white shark!’” Gayle said. “This kid’s going to go back to school with the best story ever and nobody is going to believe him.”

While the sighting was a first for Gayle, she said she thinks the great whites might make more appearances off the Bay as waters continue to warm.

Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, owner of Atlantic Shark Expeditions and executive director of the Shark Research Foundation, previously told CityNews the Canadian great white shark population is still endangered, but does appear to be recovering. With that, warmer waters and increasing food sources in the Atlantic waters is making these areas more accessible to sharks.

“I’ve been doing this now for about 30 years and I can see a difference in the species that are in the water and what’s around us,” Gayle said. “So I’m sure in another 20 or 30 years and the water gets a little bit warmer again that we’re going to see a lot more things like this.”

And if seeing the white shark wasn’t enough, Gayle said it was a full week filled with miraculous sightings.

“Not only did we see this white shark feasting on the humpback, but we also saw the Bay of Fundy’s only orca — Old Tom — and we saw a leatherback sea turtle, which is endangered,” she said. “It was an insane week!”

In a rare moment for a whale watching tour, onlookers took in mealtime for a great white shark on a dead whale in the Bay of Fundy on September 2, 2025.