According to the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at UBC, great white sharks could be swimming in B.C. waters one day.
William Cheung, associate professor at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries says that, with ocean temperatures rising, we could see more tropical sharks in temperate waters.
Warming waters could mean some very different fish around #BC, even great white sharks. https://t.co/Eqr4su71Pg pic.twitter.com/yC6WnLsIcp
— UBC Science (@ubcscience) July 25, 2017
“The numbers of many shark species are going to shrink in the available habitat for them, particularly the tropical sharks,” Cheung explains. “Eventually, tropical waters will simply be too hot for the sharks to live in.”
Although it's hard to predict when we might expect great white shark sighting in our waters, Cheung says it will become increasingly frequent over the next couple of decades.
Great white sharks can already be spotted in waters off the coast of California, and they will make their way up to B.C. waters unless climate change is slowed or stopped.
According to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, there are 14 shark species that already swim in our waters.
The six most common species are the salmon shark, blue shark, Pacific sleeper shark, brown cat shark, spiny dogfish, and the tope shark.
