Jekyll, the great white shark spotted this week by the organization Ocearch off Percé, does not represent a risk for vacationers who frequent the beaches of Gaspésie, assures researcher Émilien Pelletier, of the Institute of sciences of the sea of Rimouski (ISMER).
The Jekyll shark, a juvenile male measuring almost 9 feet and weighing almost 400 pounds, reported its presence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Wednesday, July 18, shortly after noon, indicates the Ocearch site, which tracks it using a chip.
“What is very important is that humans are not prey in any way [pour le grand requin blanc]. He does not approach the beaches,” said Mr. Pelletier in a telephone interview.
Its main prey is rather the seal.
“Sometimes he hunts relatively close to the coast because the seals tend to stay on the rocks”, specifies the ISMER researcher.
Jekyll, carrier of a chip since December 9, left Florida, shows the site of Ocearch.
“We can see that it went straight up into the gulf and does not go beyond a certain area. He’s not going north. He’s a tourist, he’s looking for warmth,” laughs Mr. Pelletier.
“He didn’t come near Gaspé Bay or anywhere. I have a feeling he’ll keep looking. It may enter Chaleur Bay if it finds something, but it may simply return to the southern gulf, where the waters are warmer. »
Observed from Florida to Nova Scotia, the great white shark is considered “endangered” by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
“It’s not new that it is present in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it’s been known for a long time that it goes up in the gulf in summer,” recalls Mr. Pelletier. “These are fish that don’t like cold water, so they just come up in the summer, when there’s a bit warmer water. »
“An error on the part of the shark”
Some attacks of white sharks against human beings have already been reported along the American coasts, recognizes the researcher.
“This is what biologists call accidental attacks: in fact, it is an error on the part of the shark. »
A diver dressed in a black wetsuit and wearing flippers, “seen from below, for a shark, it looks a lot like a seal,” explains Mr. Pelletier.
Stand-up paddleboard attacks, whose elongated shape when viewed from below may also resemble other white shark prey, including dolphins, have also been recorded, he said.