Researchers in northern Nova Scotia have yet to determine what caused the death of a large great white shark that recently washed ashore near Pictou.
The Marine Animal Response Society says the body of the 580-kilogram male shark was discovered Friday on a beach, where researchers spent the weekend conducting a necropsy.
Dr. Laura Bourque of the Canadian Wildlife Health Co-operative in P.E.I. says no obvious cause of death was identified and additional testing is needed.
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Experts say conservation measures have helped the great white shark population recover from a drastic decline in the 1970s and 1980s, and there is evidence climate change has led to warmer ocean temperatures, making it easier for some ocean species to spread northward.
According to the St. Lawrence Shark Observatory, the last time someone was killed by a shark in Canadian waters was July 1953, when a shark rammed a lobster boat, causing it to capsize and one fisherman drowned but wasn’t bitten.
The observatory’s database of shark attacks in Canadian waters includes 30 records dating back to 1691.
There are only four other reports of fatalities that are considered plausible and 24 incidents that did not result in any injuries.
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