A diver was taken to a hospital following an encounter with a great white shark in Percé, Quebec, located in the Gaspé region of the province.
The Canadian Coast Guard reported that the incident took place just before 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Emergency response protocols were activated immediately,” stated Plongée Percé, a commercial diving company, in a Facebook update on Wednesday.
“The individual involved was given first aid at the scene and was swiftly transported to the hospital for further assessment. We can confirm that their life is not in jeopardy.”
The Canadian Coast Guard verified that the victim was on the Yoda, a dive boat operated by the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary. By Wednesday afternoon, the nature of the victim’s injuries had not yet been confirmed by the agency.
Kevin Dubé, a captain, witnessed the event unfold. He recounted that a mayday call was received indicating that a diver was in trouble. The injured diver was brought to shore in a small boat, he noted.
“The ambulances were already on site. Everything happened very, very swiftly. They took control of the situation and transported him to the hospital,” Dubé explained.
On social media, Plongée Percé expressed gratitude to those who assisted in the rescue and announced the suspension of diving operations for the remainder of the season.
A diver was taken to a hospital after being injured by a great white shark in Percé, Que., in the province’s Gaspé region. Neil Hammerschlag, executive director of Shark Research Foundation, explains why it is not unusual for the shark to be in this area.
Increase in great white sightings
Throughout the summer, sightings of great white sharks have surged in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as well as along the shores of the Gaspé Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands.
Ocearch, a global non-profit organization that aids scientists in studying sharks, is currently tracking four of these sharks—Webster, Ernst, Bella, and Nori. Nori was observed south of Anticosti Island, while Ernst and Bella have been spotted northeast of the Magdalen Islands.
The organization informed CBC News in August that the sighting of Webster off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador was an indication of a recovering ocean. Webster is a 12-foot shark weighing more than 1,000 pounds.
Ocearch founder Chris Fischer noted that the great white shark population was nearly wiped out between the 1970s and 1990s, with only about nine percent of the global population remaining before conservation efforts were implemented.
Having sharks in the area is beneficial for local fisheries, according to Fischer, as sharks instinctively apply pressure on seal populations, which ultimately safeguards fish stocks.
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Caroline Miri, a marine biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, stated that sharks are essential at the apex of the marine food web.
“They are crucial to the health and stability of our oceans and marine ecosystems because these sharks help regulate certain invasive species and manage competing fish populations lower on the food chain,” Miri explained.
Fischer added that Ocearch has tagged approximately 115 sharks along the Atlantic, from Florida to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Sharks drawn by seals
The St. Lawrence Shark Observatory attributes the recent rise in great white shark sightings in the gulf to improved documentation and the recovery of the species, which was once regarded as endangered in Canadian waters.
Great white sharks have become regular seasonal visitors to the gulf and the Canadian Atlantic, particularly in regions populated by large numbers of grey seals.
“We observe plenty of seals—hundreds of them. It’s their breeding season,” Dubé noted.
Sandra Gauthier, the director of the Exploramer science museum in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec, remarked that incidents like this were bound to happen with the rising number of sharks in the gulf waters.
“I don’t believe we should be concerned, but it’s still a wild animal, and entering its habitat increases the chances of an encounter,” she asserted.
“We’ve never had to learn to coexist with sharks in Canada, but that’s the lesson we’re starting to grasp today. In other places, people are accustomed to sharks, and attacks are quite rare. Globally, we’re talking about fewer than 12 per year.”
As per the Canadian Shark Attack Registry, 15 verified shark-related incidents have been documented in Canada over a span of more than 330 years.