Ocean research device victim of great white shark attack off Nova Scotia shore

A device used by researchers with Fisheries and Oceans Canada appears to have been the victim of an attack by a great white shark.

A device used by researchers with Fisheries and Oceans Canada appears to have been the victim of an attack by a great white shark.

Clark Richards, a research scientist with the federal department, says his colleagues are confident the bite marks on an ocean glider used to track ocean data are from a great white — a species known for their sharp, serrated teeth.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada sends autonomous ocean gliders into the ocean as part of a program to gather data on salinity and temperature and to track small particles in sea water.

At around 9 a.m. on Sept. 22, Richards says one of the five gliders in the program was about 300 metres below the ocean’s surface when it suddenly malfunctioned.

The shark had bitten into the body of the two-metre-long device and taken off two of its wings, Richards says, but “miraculously” the damaged glider was able to keep moving and return to the surface, and researchers were able to recover the device.

The researcher says it appears the glider, which will be repaired, was attacked a second time before it made it to the ocean’s surface.

“The shark probably hit it down deep, thought it injured it, waited for it to drift up, and then probably took another crack at it,” Richards says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.