SHARKS: Quoddy Link passenger films shark attacking a porpoise.

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SHARKS: Porbeagle, Great White or Basking shark?

Hello Art:  What do you think this is? Side to side swimming..I thought I would send this along..he was at Schooner Cove Weir (Fundy Drive) around 7:02. He was surfaced and stayed on top for about 5 minutes then found the weir. Thanks for all you do!! Love the blog  KH

I was guessing Porbeagle, but much larger they say. If so, probably a basking shark. One sighted by Quoddy Link in the same area but it doesn't look like the same fin! Could it be a Great White?

Quoddy Link photo:

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Basking Sharks in the Bay of Fundy

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Laurie Murison wrote:

 Basking sharks are very common to occasional in the Bay of Fundy every year - I saw three on Monday.  I have seen hundreds over the years, although some may be the same individuals.  They are individually recognizable from their dorsal fins and saddle patch behind their large dorsal fin.  The largest number of basking sharks I have seen in one day was 51 (no repeats since we were travelling in from right whales in the Grand Manan Basin).  I don't have the year at hand at the moment but it was during the 1990s, also the same year basking shark numbers were high in the Gulf of Maine with 200 seen on a survey.  This was also during a time when right whale numbers were very high and sei whales were seen in the Bay regularly and also when zooplankton biomass was lower on the Scotian Shelf.

Basking sharks can be found in all depths of water and have been entrapped in herring weirs.  They are seen occasionally from the Grand Manan ferry and obviously glassy calm days are better for viewing. Their 'basking' nature allows them to be seen at the surface when most other sharks' presence would go unnoticed. I have seen them filtering just below the surface but
sometimes they are just cruising slowly.  Basking sharks are also great breachers, coming clear of the water.  They sometimes have lampreys attached which may be one reason for breaching, although there have been days with right whales that both species are breaching.

We have funding at the GMWSRS this year from the NB Wildlife Trust and Canadian Wildlife Federation to continue a pilot study of basking sharks. Our researcher has already obtained two short dive profiles from two different sharks and will be hopefully attaching archival satellite tags this summer which will collect a longer set of data before releasing from the shark and popping up to the surface and transmitting the data.

There was a Quirks and Quarks article about basking sharks in 2009 - very  fascinating about winter travels including transequatorial movements. http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/08-09/qq-2009-05-23.html  From Quirks and Quarks: "The basking shark is the world's second largest fish, and during summers, it lives a peaceful life sifting plankton from temperate ocean waters. It leads a mysterious double life, however, as during the winter, it simply disappears. Dr. Greg Skomal, a marine biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, used special tags to track the sharks' movements during the winter. He discovered that these huge animals were sneaking off for southern vacations, travelling thousands of kilometers to tropical waters in which they'd never been seen before. He suspects these trips are to the secret nursery where the basking sharks bear and raise their young."

Laurie Murison
Grand Manan, NB
From Nature NB

Photo Credit: Wikipedia.com

White Puffin at Grand Manan Basin - Birds and Whales at Machias Seal Island

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Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 07:10:53 -0300
From: Ralph Eldridge  Nature NB
Subject: MACHIAS SEAL ISLAND REPORT

With the onset of fair weather the bird movement has been steady but pretty  much as expected for the season. Raptors are still scarce except that EAGLES are hanging around most every  day, 1 or 2 HARRIERS hunt through each day and there is an occasional  PEREGRINE or SHARP SHINNED HAWK. Sparrows are, as usual, the most numerous birds although the variety is still  limited. I did find 3 LARK SPARROWS, 1 probable GRASSHOPPER SPARROW & 2  SHARP TAILED SPARROWS yesterday.  Also seen were 7 DICKSCISELS, 7 HUMMINGBIRDS, 4 EASTERN KINGBIRDS & 3  BALTIMORE ORIOLES, along with a variety of warblers, flycatchers &  SHOREBIRDS.

There are about a half dozen PUFFIN nests still active but no fledglings have  been seen on the lawn for the past 2 nights. These late season birds seem to  be either very mature and in super good condition or else they are very under  developed, to the point that their survival in doubtful.

On the water, feeding flocks are seen daily with SHEARWATERS the most  numerous species but PUFFINS, GULLS & GANNETS are well represented. HARBOUR PORPOISE & MINKE WHALES are usually in the vicinity and I've seen  BLUEFIN TUNA & BASKING SHARKS during the past few days.

The largely WHITE PUFFIN that was reported in the Grand Manan Basin will  remind many listers of the one which was around here a few years ago. That bird was around for several weeks that summer, went unseen the  following year and it (presumedly) reappeared very briefly during the 3rd  summer.

Photo Credit: Albino Puffin Shetland Islands http://www.bobbytulloch.com/category_details.php?id=63

Basking Shark in Head Harbour Passage

There was a big basking shark near the seawall in Wilson's Beach yesterday, August 26th. It was near the edges of the waterline, far up in the cove. Many people went to see it.  Joyce

 

Photo Credit: wikipedia.com