CANADIAN SHARK ATTACK REGISTRY

Human leg found inside Greenland shark

Case number: 4
Date: 1859
Location: Pond Inlet, Nunavut
Incident type (Suspected): Scavenging — Code: SC
Species: Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus)
Possible cause(s): Victim probably drowned
Result: No injury caused by shark
Status: Confirmed
Description: A Greenland shark is reportedly¹ captured with a human leg in its stomach.

Assessment: Pond Inlet has long been known² as a hotspot for the Greenland shark. If the account is true, the leg found in the shark would likely have come from a drowning victim or from someone who died on the ice.
References:
¹ International Shark Attack File (ISAF)
² Templeman, W., & Fisheries Research Board of Canada. (1963). Distribution of sharks in the Canadian Atlantic: (with special reference to Newfoundland waters).
(Background) Baffin Island, Nunavut. Photo © Jeffrey Gallant | ORS
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Misrepresented and misunderstood, sharks play a critical role in North Atlantic ecosystems, but they are under increasing threat due to their unfair reputation, pollution, and a lack of public awareness. Please donate to help us study and protect the sharks of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Canada before it’s too late.Donations to ORS, an all-volunteer charitable not-for-profit organisation, are tax deductible in Canada. Canada Revenue Agency #834462913RR0001

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Misrepresented and misunderstood, sharks play a critical role in North Atlantic ecosystems, but they are under increasing threat due to their unfair reputation, pollution, and a lack of public awareness. Please donate to help us study and protect the sharks of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Canada before it’s too late.Donations to ORS, an all-volunteer charitable not-for-profit organisation, are tax deductible in Canada. Canada Revenue Agency #834462913RR0001

DONATE

“Fear and indifference bite deeper than any shark.”— Jeffrey Gallant, St. Lawrence Shark ObservatoryTax deductible in Canada
CRA #834462913RR0001DONATE