QUEENSLAND - Swimmers at a busy Nova Scotia beach were forced out of the water for two hours after a fin was spotted offshore.
The director of the Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service says a fin — possibly of a shark — was spotted in the swimmer’s area of Queensland beach, about 50 kilometres west of Halifax.
Paul D’Eon says the lifeguard service has no way to confirm there was a shark, but says when a fin is spotted close to the beach the policy is to order swimmers out of the water.
The veteran lifeguard manager says the potential shark sighting was the first this season at any of the province’s 21 ocean beaches, where lifeguards have been on duty for the past five days.
D’Eon says that last year there were three or four sightings of fins over the summer.
The director says that in his 51-year career there’s never been a shark attack at one of the beaches while lifeguards were on duty.
Seems like a good policy 👀
Indeed. While most of the time a fin sighting would be harmless, that area is within territory covered by great white sharks. In 2021 a woman swimming at Margaree Island was bitten by a great white that likely mistook her for a seal.
As waters warm, mako and great white sharks have been spending more time close to shore over the past decade.
Just like with any animal at the top of the food chain, it’s better to use caution than to tempt statistics.