Since he was spotted Monday not far from Gaspé, then Tuesday off Percé, in the Gaspé, Jekyll has been talked about a lot in the media. Seeing this white shark venture into the Gulf of St. Lawrence may seem like an exceptional event, but although it is on the rise, it is actually a relatively common phenomenon, according to experts interviewed by The duty.
At nearly 9 feet in length, this great white shark is one of approximately 250 specimens on the east coast of North America that carry a transmitter to track them, so scientists can better study their habits and movements.
When they approach the coast, this data can also help warn the population of their presence, but scientists estimate that only one in ten white sharks is equipped with a chip, according to Jeffrey Gallant, scientific director of the St. Lawrence Shark Observatory.
Know the risks
Caution is therefore still required at all times, particularly during the summer, in certain regions frequented by white sharks. If they venture into the Gulf, it is primarily because it is an “extraordinary pantry” for them, underlines the specialist. It is indeed full of seals, their favorite food.
According to him, the majority of these specimens are young sharks. And if they are more interested in seals, it is important for humans who practice nautical activities or swim in the gulf to know the risks. Indeed, according to Jeffrey Gallant, [ces jeunes requins] have not yet fully developed their visual acuity. They are less experienced, more impatient. So they can attack just about anything: they are the ones who are the most likely to make a mistake” — thus to confuse an adventurous swimmer with prey.
The researcher adds that the probability of being attacked by a shark is however very low. “We have a better chance of winning the lottery than being attacked by a shark,” he points out. There are 100 incidents per year on average on the planet, of which about 10 are fatal. But it only takes one to revive the myths and psychosis about sharks. »
However, the expert calls for caution. “Even if the level of risk is infinitesimally small, you have to try not to take it,” he adds. For example, if you want to go surfing in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine and you find a deserted beach, you should ask yourself the question: “why aren’t people here here?” The people who live there know that nearby there is a huge colony of seals and that is where the sharks go hunting. »
According to Stéphanie Lachance, owner of the Auberge sous les Arbres, in Gaspé, the presence of sharks is not, however, a subject that worries visitors unduly. “There may have been a customer who talked about it, she says, but he was not impressed! »
“It’s not a topic of conversation at all,” says Louis Legault, owner of Camping Gaspé, a smile in his voice. “Tourists go to the beach, he says, but the sharks don’t come near the beach, they’ve been seen really offshore by fishermen. It doesn’t seem to worry them at all. »
A growing population
This collected data also allows researchers to monitor the growth of the white shark population in the Northwest Atlantic. These data showed in particular that it had been on the increase for several years.
Frederick Whoriskey, executive director of the Ocean Tracking Network, an aquatic animal research center affiliated with Dalhousie University, says the white sharks seen in Canadian waters are young and are expanding their territory into areas they haven’t previously occupied. “This is another sign that the population is growing,” he explains. Good news for this endangered species.
In particular, the researchers have noticed that more and more white sharks are being spotted in the St. Lawrence over the years — in the gulf and even sometimes in the estuary.
According to Nigel Hussey, professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Windsor, the presence of white sharks in the St. Lawrence is due to a combination of factors: more food due to a displacement of prey, better protection of the species in Canada and the United States, technological advances offering better detection of sharks and climate change, which is warming the water and pushing it to venture into new territories. In relation to this last factor, the researcher “has difficulty believing that it would not change the distribution of the white shark” in North American waters.
According to Jeffrey Gallant, however, climate change should not be pointed out, or at least not directly. His interpretation is rather that its population growing, the white shark would reclaim a territory that it occupied “before its ecosystem was upset by human beings”. He points out that the Mi’kmaq First Nation would, for example, have developed navigation methods long before the arrival of settlers to protect themselves from shark attacks. “The white shark seems like a new thing, but for hundreds of years, even millennia, they were part of First Nations life,” he says.