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Rare Occurrence of a Rhincodon typus (Whale Shark) in the Bay of Fundy, CanadaAuthor(s): Stephen D. Turnbull and Jackie E. RandellSource: Northeastern Naturalist, Vol. 13, No. 1 (2006), pp. 57-58Published by: Eagle Hill InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4131005 .

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2006 NORTHEASTERN NATURALIST 13(1):57-58

Rare Occurrence of a Rhincodon typus (Whale Shark) in the Bay of Fundy, Canada

STEPHEN D. TURNBULLI* AND JACKIE E. RANDELL'

Abstract - A large whale shark, Rhincodon typus, was observed in the Bay of Fundy, Canada on August 22, 1997. The sighting was at 44?15'19"N, 67?44'07"W. Whale sharks are a circumglobal species occurring in the warmer waters of the tropical and subtropical seas and no prior sightings of this animal north of 42?N have been reported. The reasons for the shark to be in the Bay are unknown. It is important to note that the whale shark may be able to tolerate the colder waters of the Bay of Fundy, although there have been no subsequent sightings in the Bay.

Rhincodon typus Smith (whale shark) is the largest living fish on the planet, reaching lengths of over 12 meters. It is primarily a filter feeder, feeding on suspended plankton and small prey in the pelagic zone (Coleman 1997). Whale sharks in the Atlantic occur mainly between 20?N and 200S (Coleman 1997, Kukuyev 1996, Wolfson 1986) but they have been recorded as far north as 42?N along the coast of eastern North American where the sharks may travel along the Gulf Stream (Gudger 1952). On August 22, 1997, a whale shark was sighted and positively identified by its distinctive markings at 44?15'19"N, 67?44'07"W, near Eastern Wolf Island, part of an archipelago called the Wolves Islands, in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. The shark was estimated to be about 10 m in total length. We believe this sighting is the most northerly sighting for a whale shark.

There is no evidence to suggest that the whale shark is a frequent visitor to the Bay. It is not likely that whale sharks would be misidentified. There also were no reports of any whale sharks washing ashore, so it is assumed that the animal successfully made its way out of the Bay. At the time of the sighting, the sea surface temperature was 15 ?C, decreasing down to 10 ?C at a depth of 50 meters in this particular area. This particular animal may have simply followed the warm Gulf Stream waters (Gudger 1952) and diverted in towards the Bay of Fundy following a food source. This sighting is important as it suggests that these sharks may tolerate colder temperatures than previously believed.

Acknowledgments

We thank Captain Bob Bosien, former Captain of the University of New Brunswick's research vessel, the Mary-O, for his endless patience with us and his assistance when we were on board his vessel and to the University of New Brunswick in Saint John for helping fund the research on the basking sharks which made this

'University of New Brunswick, PO Box 5050, Saint John, NB, Canada, E2L 4L5. Corresponding author - turnbull@unb.ca.

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58 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 13, No. 1

discovery possible. Special thanks to Edward Woods for his hard work and dedica- tion to the marine environment.

Literature Cited

Coleman, J.G. 1997. A review of the biology and the ecology of the whale shark. Journal of Fish Biology 51(6):1219-1234.

Gudger, E.W. 1952. Northernmost record of the whale shark. Science 116:432-433. Kukuyev, E.I. 1996. The new finds in recently born individuals of the whale shark in

the Atlantic Ocean. Journal of Ichthyology 36(2):274-281. Wolfson, F.H. 1986. Occurrences of the whale shark, Rhincodon typus Smith. Pp.

208-226, In T. Uyeno, R. Arai, T. Taniuchi, and K. Matsuura (Eds.). Indo-Pacific Fish Biology: Proceeding of the Second International Conference on Indo-Pa- cific Fishes. Ichthyologicasl Society of Japan. Tokyo, Japan.

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