Great white shark found dead on Haida Gwaii

A great white shark was found dead off the coast of Haida Gwaii in northern British Columbia.

It was discovered by Mike Miles, who says he saw it while boating south of Tlell, B.C., off the east coast of Haida Gwaii.

“I thought I was seeing a young orca, then I thought it was a beaked whale,” he told CBC News via text message. “Then a great white shark! Cool and a little sad.”

He reported it to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), which confirmed the species and said it was a male measuring about 13.5 feet, or four meters, in length. They also found a seal in its intestines, “a common prey of this species,” according to spokeswoman Athina Vazeos.

Vazeos said the samples were collected for research purposes, including to determine the cause of death, and beyond that they were “letting nature take its course” in what happens to the body.

DFO says it identified the shark by its teeth as well as its fin and tail. Tissue samples were taken for research purposes. (Mike Miles)

Climate change is driving species north

Great white shark sightings are rare in BC as they prefer temperate or subtropical waters.

However, they are not uncommon and have been seen as far north as the Gulf of Alaska, Vazeos said.

But researchers have warned that climate change will likely cause more of them to enter provincial seas, a message the DFO reiterated.

“With climate change, we can expect their abundance in our waters to increase in the coming decades,” Vazeos said.

Research from the UBC Institute of Oceans and Fisheries has found that by 2050, without drastic reductions in emissions, waters off British Columbia are expected to be about 1.5°C warmer than today.

According to federal records, there have only been 13 records of the species in British Columbia in 46 years, although that data was last updated in 2006.

The giant fish are more common in Atlantic Canada but are considered endangered.