More white sharks are being seen in Nova Scotia waters. Here’s why

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

As warning signs are posted at some Nova Scotia beaches this summer, one expert says the white shark population is making a big comeback in Atlantic Canadian waters.

“In my opinion, there’s probably less a climate change signal than a population resurgence signal that we’re picking up right now,” Dalhousie University’s Fred Whoriskey told The Big Story Podcast.

Whoriskey is the executive director of the school’s Ocean Tracking Network. He said for years, white sharks were being caught inadvertently by fisheries including tuna, decimating the population.

“So 20 to 30 years ago there were very few of these white sharks left, they’d been hit by population depression caused by the fishery removals, and now what we’re looking at is an apparent resurgence in the population,” said Whoriskey, which he attributes to conservation efforts by American and Canadian governments.

Tracking technology has allowed researchers to follow the migratory patterns of the animals, while also coming up with systems to estimate shark populations.

“Over a four year period off of Cape Cod there were about 800 of these white sharks, and that’s obviously a minimum,” said Whoriskey, adding some researchers estimate the true number is in the tens of thousands.

Despite belief that warming oceans waters are driving the resurgence of white sharks in Canadian waters, Whoriskey said a crackdown on damaging fishing practices is the more likely cause —  in addition to the fact that more humans are on the ocean than used to be.

“We’ve got a lot more people on the water a lot more of the time, so we’ve got a lot more sightings,” he said.

The recent signage posted at some Nova Scotia beaches is not aiming to create a panic, but he said, is one way of ensuring people know how to minimize any safety risk.

“Don’t swim at dawn or dusk, which are the peak hunting periods for these animals,” Whoriskey said. “Go swimming with more than one person, avoid swimming in areas with seals, and if you stay to typical beaches most people go to, those are not attractive to sharks —  the food source, seals don’t like to be around all those people and so there’s no reason for the sharks to be there.”