Soupfin Shark (Galeorhinus galeus) Strandings

Ocean / Sea

Fish

Near Pesuta Shipwreck, Tlell, Haida Gwaii

Nearby

Phillip Lambert wrote:

We saw several dead or dying sharks along the shore. I later identified them as Soupfin Sharks (Galeorhinus galeus) because of the unique shape of the tail. One shark had a dorsal fin cut off. We tried to revive one by pushing it through the water. There used to be a fishery for this species in the 1940s in Hecate Strait according to Pacific Fishes of Canada, 1973, by J.L. Hart p. 40.

Lynn Lee offered the following related observations:

This and other soupfin shark strandings have occurred every few years on the east coast of Haida Gwaii. Leandre and I have seen them over the years as have many of our neighbors in Tlell. ...I did not keep track of which years ... but often it happens in August/September. Once we saw them while out fishing off the east coast near Tlell and the one we saw was swimming like it was ‘drunk’ towards shore. We tried to turn it around several times but it was determined to head west and I am sure eventually beached itself. That same time, others reported seeing a few soupfin sharks washed up dead on the beaches near Tlell.

Leandre and I also saw a washed up dead soupfins off the SE coast of Louise Island one year (over a decade ago). When I have found them, I have reported to Jackie King at DFO as the shark biologist but I don’t know what they do with [those] data or whether they might have it recorded somewhere that you could access.

No one has provided any explanation to date about why they wash up or what killed them. All the ones I have seen do not have signs of having been caught in a fishery nor had their fins cut off. 2015 was a warm water year and I can’t remember the other years of dead soupfins to know if they were warm water years as well, but they might be related.

That’s ... all the information I have offhand. I would contact Jackie King to see if she can provide you with the reports from Haida Gwaii over the years.

Tom Okey, LEO BC Coordinator, wrote:

In addition to the comments by Dr. Lynn Lee of Parks Canada, I am forwarding this post to experts at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Simon Fraser University, and others for their comments.