Swimmers beware: Shark sighting in Nova Scotia

Courtesy: Sue Deschene - Liverpool, Nova Scotia

Friday, July 22, 2016, 3:27 PM - You may have to adjust your weekend plans if they included heading to Nova Scotia's Liverpool Harbour.

People are being told to "look before they leap" after an apparent shark has been spotted around the harbour this week.

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There have been reports of a five foot shark entering under a popular swimming bridge and into the estuary, snagging mackerel right off the lines of those fishing in the area.

"We were catching mackerel and the shark kept coming up and biting the mackerel off everybody's hook," said fishermen Lyndon Mooers in a report from the Shelburne County Coast Guard. "Sometime's he'd take their line and go with your mackerel jig, and take the line and go right off."

According to Bill Wolfe with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, he has never heard of sharks coming that far up into the estuary or into the river, but says people should be aware. He says it's not clear what type of shark it might be.

Local officials had put signs up, but those were taken down when locals mistook the warning as an official advisory from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).

"The DFO has had reports of people seeing sharks in Liverpool Harbour," said David Jennings, communications manager for the department. "The DFO has not done any posting of signs.

"That was an independent action taken by an individual, as DFO does not have a role in this particular case."

There have been no further sightings since the signs were taken down.

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Source: CBC