LAST UPDATED: 01.07.2023
LAST UPDATED: 01.07.2023
BLUE SHARK
BLUE SHARK
Prionace glauca
Prionace glauca
The blue shark is a mostly pelagic species and the most wide-ranging shark in the world, inhabiting all temperate and tropical oceans. In the North Atlantic, it migrates over long distances in a circular pattern from Africa to North America, and then Europe, arriving in Canada in the spring and departing in the fall.
A number of blue sharks seasonally enter the Gulf of St. Lawrence where they have been recorded¹ reaching the mouth of the estuary off the Gaspé Peninsula.
¹ Gallant, J., unpublished data.
NAMES
NAMES
Common name: Blue shark, blue whaler, great blue shark.
Mi’kmaw names: Sabbede-mequ, siglati, tan booskekŭlooskăbāwit’, webetŭmâk’, wipitmeqw.
French common names: Requin bleu, requin peau bleue.
Scientific name: Prionace glauca — Prionace: Greek, prion = saw + Greek, akis meaning point + Latin, glaucas = bluish gray.
Order – Carcharhiniformes
Family – Carcharhinidae
Genus – Prionace
Species – P. glauca
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
• Average length of 1.8 to 2.5 metres.
• Dark blue above, bright blue on the sides and white ventral side.
• Long, slim body with long and rounded pectoral fins.
• Asymmetrical caudal fin (tail) with larger top lobe.
• Often accompanied by pilot fish.
• Most common pelagic shark in Atlantic Canada.
• Seasonal presence in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Rare in the Estuary.
DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION
The blue shark seasonally enters the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the mouth of the maritime estuary.
(BELOW) Provisional distribution of the blue shark, Prionace glauca, in the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Canada, based on research by the St. Lawrence Shark Observatory. Only select cases are posted to illustrate overall range. This map is updated with new and historical data on an ongoing basis. Map does not include data from the U.S. except borderline cases. To submit additional sightings or captures, please contact us. Click on icons for observation details.
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERVATION STATUS
The blue shark (Atlantic population) is listed under special concern species by COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada).
Jeffrey Hay Gallant, MSc, is the founder and Scientific Director of the St. Lawrence Shark Observatory (ORS) and a doctoral researcher at UQAM. He made his first shark observation at Peggy’s Cove in 1975, first shark dive off Chebucto Head in 1992, co-led the first Canadian cage dives off Halifax in 2000, and was the first person to film a free-swimming Greenland shark in 2003.
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In the North Atlantic, the white shark is seasonally present in all of the Maritime provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Québec, including the St. Lawrence.
Shark and seal in New France
by Louis Nicolas circa 1690.
Meet the world's most maligned sea creature, the white shark.
Read
Read
Shark fins banned in Canada? Not really.
In the North Atlantic, the white shark is seasonally present in all of the Maritime provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Québec, including the St. Lawrence.
The Canadian Shark Attack Registry is the first database of all documented human encounters with sharks that have resulted in injury or death in Canada.
Shark Attacks in Canada
What you need to know.
Read
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