CANADIAN SHARK ATTACK REGISTRY

Shipwrecked fishers killed by sharks

Case number: 5
Date: October 1860
Location: Cape Sable, Nova Scotia
Incident type: Attack on shipwrecked crew (overboard) — Code: PRE
Species: Unknown
Possible cause(s): Shipwreck with struggling survivors and possibly blood in water (Provoked)
Result: Fatality
Status: Plausible
Description: Two fisherman were reportedly killed by sharks after their schooner was run down by a steamer in a dense fog, near Cape Canso. The crew initially hung on to the waterlogged vessel for two days after which seven were washed overboard. The remaining nine crew boarded a lifeboat, which capsized, and two of the men were allegedly devoured by sharks. The remaining seven recovered the boat where two died of exhaustion before the survivors were rescued by a passing vessel.

Assessment: A group of survivors struggling in the water for several days could have attracted the attention of passing sharks. There is too little information to confirm the shark species, but the incident occurred at a prime location and time for the white shark.

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References:
¹ The Daily Dispatch (01/11/1860)
(Background) Cranberry Island Lighthouse, Canso. Photo by Dennis Jarvis (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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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