Great white shark draws a crowd in Cape Breton before dying on shore

Video of a great white shark swimming near North Bay Wharf in Ingonish, N.S., on Thursday has been shared thousands of times, and is the talk of the community.

“I was saying afterwards I don't think I’m going swimming no more, but seriously it was just crazy,” said Kenny Best, a fisherman.

The shark attracted a crowd of onlookers on Thursday, including a bus load of tourists from a cruise ship in Sydney, N.S.

“It was amazing. It was just total awe. It was amazing,” said Shauna Madden, Ingonish, N.S. resident

Although the excitement didn't last too long.

It appears the same shark washed up on shore a short time later, and despite attempts to save it, it died.

“There was a big chunk out of the dorsal fin, so that's how they knew it was the same shark, and when he ended up on the beach they could see bite marks on his belly,” said Best.

The Marine Animal Response Society confirmed the shark was indeed a great white and was measured at 13-feet-long.

“They never really bump into things unless they really want to bump into things. It wants too. That animals behaviour looked like it was disoriented or clumsy,” said Bruce Hatcher, a biologist at Cape Breton University.

MARS are keen to perform a necropsy to try to determine what may have been the reason for its stranding and subsequent death, but it washed away overnight.

Hatcher says great whites are becoming more common in our waters because of the growing grey seal population.

“There has been a large increase in high quality food for these top predators and they're taking advantage of it by coming here more often and staying longer,” he said.

MARS is asking if anyone comes across the animal to contact them, so the cause of death can be determined.

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