Where the Salmon sharks are, now with 20% more research

In 2004 I was fortunate enough to get face to face with the Salmon sharks (Lamna ditropis) of Gravina Bay in Alaska on a private shark diving adventure on board the M/Y Triton that we set up.

These critters are the sporty little cousins of the white sharks and not much is known about them, by sporty I mean jumping out of the water and tearing up local shoals of salmon kind of sporty - fun to watch.

So it was with great interest that I read about regional aggregation sites of these amazing animals in British Columbia in and around Haida Gwaii, in Queen Charlotte Sound this week.

In a paper published last year, and tabled last week with the Cohen Commission in Vancouver, Dr. Williams states an estimated 20,000 blue and salmon sharks gather in a relatively small area each summer.

That's a lot of sharks. Of course there's been some stunning tagging research done on these animals in the region, but you might never know about it because this team does not have a television show, nor do they seek the limelight like a "moth to a flame" as some do in the shark research community.

When it comes to shark researchers we prefer the quiet professionals, they just seem to be more...credible.