One Year And No Sightings Of Basking Sharks

September 11, 2008

Release from: Gillian Riddell
Westerly News (Canada)

Scientists have spent a year searching for basking sharks on the West Coast of Vancouver Island but have yet to record one sighting of the elusive giants.

A group of researchers from the Pacific Biological Station flew for five hours last week looking for basking sharks, the second largest fish in the world and once plentiful on the West Coast.

"We didn't see any," said Sandy McFarlane, research scientist with the Pacific Biological Station. "We saw whales but no basking sharks."

The group is collecting information about the species to help the government of Canada to determine whether or not to list basking sharks as endangered off the coast of B.C.

After the sharks clashed with fishing equipment mid-century, the federal government embarked on a basking shark eradication program from the late 1940s until the 1960s.

Blades were attached to the front of boats and driven through the gentle giants and since the 1990s, there have only been sporadic sightings of basking sharks on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

Researchers previously scanned the waters on the West Coast in the spring and last fall and didn't come up with any sightings.

This time, the researchers flew from the Alberni Canal to Pachena Bay, through the Broken Group Islands, between Ucluelet and Tofino and all the way to Ahousaht without spotting any of the 10 metre long sharks.

"Either they are really good at hiding or their numbers are low," said McFarlane. "I didn't really expect to see any but you always hope."

McFarlane said the last reported sighting of a basking shark was two summers ago. He recently received photos of basking shots from a group of kayakers who said they were taken on the West Coast but so far the group has not responded to McFarlane's inquiry about when the photos were taken.

The research group is planning to head up again in October to hopefully collect more baseline information about the West Coast's basking shark population.

After that, the federal government will consider whether or not to add the sharks to the endangered list of species.

If they do, McFarlane said, following that decision would be the requirement to develop a recovery program for the species.