What is believed to be a 10-foot-long shark has washed ashore at Coles Bay in North Saanich.
Lots of Peninsula News Review readers emailed in to confirm the experts’ identification.
Francois Metcalfe saw what she thought was a shark swimming in the bay on Feb. 3 and two days later saw it had washed ashore. She called her husband and they went down to the shoreline to investigate.
“There are no signs of how it met its death,” said Peter Metcalfe.”Hopefully, it died of old age.”
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Metcalfe said the shark appeared to be 600 to 800 pounds and he was surprised that it does not have a dorsal fin on the centre of its back.
“A passerby thought it might be a [bluntnosed] sixgilled shark,” he said. “It doesn’t look quite so ferocious [as other species].”
Metcalfe, who served in the British Navy, said he had seen many sharks while at sea but, “none like this one.”
Bluntnose sixgill sharks, also known as cow sharks have been found in a range of oceans around the world. They typically swim on the ocean floor and in poorly lit waters.
Black Press has approached experts to confirm what type of shark it is and will update when that information becomes available.
UPDATE: North Saanich mystery shark identified, UVic lab seeks to do necropsy
nick.murray@peninsulanewsreview.com
