A research expedition off the coast of Halifax, Canada located on the Atlantic Ocean in the province of Nova Scotia, chanced upon a surprise visitor. A 15-foot, great white shark came up to the boat even lifting its head out of the ocean. Instead of panicking, the students geared up and jumped right in the water.
Dalhousie University marine biology student, Geraldine Fernandez was completely thrilled by the experience. In an interview recorded in the video just below, she recalled the amazing experience.
Like most shark events, this was a docile encounter.
Fernandez described the encounter for the CBC’s Mainstreet Halifax, “Within a split second I just see a great white shark go through my screen.” To which most of us would think, ‘stay out of the water.’ But, that was not the response for these researchers. Fernandez continues, “We we’re in that water so quickly. One of the guests screamed ‘It’s coming up. It’s coming up.’ All of a sudden I just had this great image of the moment where, honestly, the moment where I fell in love with that shark. It was amazing.”
She was able to capture the moment, as the great white poked his head above water in this dazzling photo.
Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, the President of Atlantic Shark Expeditions described the experience, “This individual was in the true sense massive, close to approaching 15 feet long. Just an extraordinary animal.” For many of us, this sounds like a terrifying moment. Dr. Hammerschlag continues describing his opportunity in witnessing the event, “… lifting its head out of the water, looking what’s happening above the water… Those types of encounters are special.”
The student Fernandez found the whole episode to be amazing. She hoped people would respond likewise saying, “I really want him to be seen the way he actually was which is just beautiful, graceful, elegant, and powerful. So powerful.”
How many great white sharks live in the world today?
According to the Environmental Literacy Council (ELC), estimates put the numbers at fewer than 3,500 living world wide. The species is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Due to overfishing taking away its food source and fisheries targeting other species like tuna that often catch them by mistake, their numbers continue to dangerously decline.
As reported by the ELC, “… nearly a third of shark species in the Mediterranean Sea have been fished to the brink of extinction.” With illegal shark finning, climate change, habitat degradation from pollution, and destructive fishing policies, sharks may not populate our oceans much longer. To make matters more challenging, great white sharks have few offspring in a litter and are very slow to mature. This makes it extremely challenging for the species to recover population during a decline.
As with this encounter, most shark interactions with humans are non threatening. As reported in the Florida Museum of Natural History on the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) the total number of unprovoked shark attacks in 2024 was 47. Of those attacks only 4 led to fatalities. Unfortunately, there are not studies on general encounters. Studies only keep track of the dangerous interactions that uncommonly occur when things go wrong.
