“Fear and apathy bite deeper than any shark.”
— Jeffrey Gallant, M.Sc., GEERG
The Greenland Shark & Elasmobranch Education & Research Group was officially founded in 2003 following three years of novel expeditions in the North Atlantic Ocean (Nova Scotia) and Saguenay Fjord (Québec). Today, GEERG research and conservation activities no longer focus exclusively on the Greenland shark, but also on the many shark, skate and ray species that inhabit the St. Lawrence Gulf and Estuary, the Canadian maritime provinces, and the Arctic.
The Greenland shark is the largest member of the Somniosidae family. It is the second largest carnivorous shark after the great white and it is the largest Arctic fish. It is also the longest-living vertebrate animal with a life expectancy of at least 272 years (Nielsen et al., 2016). Its range extends from the Arctic Ocean and Northern Europe to the 32nd parallel north in the Atlantic Ocean. It reaches an enormous size and despite its lethargic appearance, it is a predator capable of short bursts of speed, and under certain conditions may hunt seals and even larger mammals including the beluga whale.
The Greenland shark is rarely observed because of its bathybenthic environment that is inaccessible to divers. The first underwater photos of a live specimen were taken in the Arctic in 1995, and the first video images of a Greenland shark swimming freely under natural conditions were filmed by GEERG in the St. Lawrence in 2003.
Our mission to study the world’s oldest vertebrate, the Greenland shark, began in 1999. Help us do more.
The Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group is a not-for-profit registered Canadian charity that requires financial assistance from corporations and private citizens to conduct field operations. All donations are tax deductible in Canada (Canada Revenue Agency Registration Number: 834462913RR0001) and also in the United States. American donations are made through SRI (Shark Research Institute), a non-profit 501(c)(3) scientific research organization.
EDITORIAL
-
25/06/2019Shark fins banned in Canada? Not really.
This first important step by Ottawa to defeat the illegal fin trade is a significant accomplishment, but it nonetheless falls short of what is truly n...
-
04/06/2019Stamp of Approval?
It is unfortunate that the image depicting the Greenland shark on a Canadian postal stamp was modeled on what was likely a photo of a shark caught and...
-
24/02/2019Who is the Corkscrew Killer?
The Greenland shark does leave a trademark wound on its victims but this most certainly isn’t it. We therefore believe that corkscrew fatalities at Sa...
-
16/02/2019The truth about the Greenland shark?
In light of the combined knowledge gained over the last decade on the Arctic and St. Lawrence populations of the Greenland shark, this recent article ...
-
11/02/2019Hooked on Conservation
Wildlife photography, no matter how well-intentioned, should never serve as a pretext to cause harm to any animal, including the Greenland shark....
LATEST PUBLICATIONS
-
16/02/2019Advancing research for the management of long-lived species: A case study on the Greenland shark (2019)
Long-lived species share life history traits such as slow growth, late maturity, and low fecundity, which lead to slow recovery rates and increase a population’s vulnerability to disturbance. The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) has recently been recognized as the world’s longest-lived vert...
-
15/02/2019Influence of environmental variables on the diel movements of the Greenland Shark in the St. Lawrence Estuary (2016)
In the St. Lawrence Estuary, Greenland Sharks undertake diel vertical movements into shallow water (≤ 30 m), but the reasons for these movements are unknown. To test the hypothesis that environmental variables drive the movements of this shark in the St. Lawrence Estuary, eight Greenland Sharks were...
SOCIAL NEWSFEED
Facebook newsfeed is in English and in French
(English below) Entrevue ce matin avec Paul Arcand pour parler de la présence accrue du requin blanc sur la côte Est américaine, dans les provinces maritimes, et dans le Saint-Laurent.
« Je ne suis aucunement climatosceptique, mais il faut cesser de tout mettre sur le dos du réchauffement planétaire au moindre signe de dérangement dans le règne animal. Contrairement à ce que certains analystes prétendent, je crois que 'l’apparition' du requin blanc dans le Saint-Laurent est davantage le retour à un semblant de normalité qu’un effet significatif des changements climatiques. » — Jeffrey Gallant, Directeur scientifique de l'Observatoire des requins du Québec
Interview (in French) this morning to talk about the rising number of white sharks observed off New England, the Maritime provinces, and in the St. Lawrence.
"I’m by no stretch a climate change denier, but we have to stop blaming every least bit of change in the animal kingdom on global warming. Contrary to the opinions of some analysts, I believe that the 'appearance' of the white shark in the St. Lawrence is more of a return to a semblance of normality, i.e. the way things used to be, than a significant effect of climate change." — Jeffrey Gallant, Scientific Director of the Quebec Shark Observatory
Interview (in French) to talk about sharks in the St. Lawrence, including a video sequence of a porbeagle shark filmed off Sept-Îles earlier this week.
Entrevue ce matin pour parler de la présence de requins dans le Saint-Laurent ainsi que du requin maraîche filmé au large de Sept-Îles cette semaine. Quelle chance ils ont eu !
Greenland Shark Research Observatoire des requins du Québec
There is a white shark currently swimming just off the coast in the Magdalen Islands. You can follow its movements here: www.ocearch.org/?details=327&fbclid=IwAR30fvLkNEJaDm-8t2bxnJbilmo0eWlYgKxDx5By3CWfT86EebwDhZLx2Xs
Awesome! BTW: Did anyone know: The Telegraph " "Virgin Holidays is to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld as part of a decision to cease its relationship with attractions that keep whales and dolphins in captivity. The tour operator, part of the Virgin Group headed by Sir Richard Branson, said the move will result in more than 20,000 tickets being removed from sale, but that all existing bookings will be honoured.Virgin Holidays is to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld as part of a decision to cease its relationship with attractions that keep whales and dolphins in captivity. The tour operator, part of the Virgin Group headed by Sir Richard Branson, said the move will result in more than 20,000 tickets being removed from sale, but that all existing bookings will be honoured."
IMAGE
GALLERY
GALLERY
Click on images for captions
