Atlantic Shark Expeditions

10/09/2026

🦈 Happy Sharktober! 🍂

While signs of fall are all around us and air temperatures continue to drop, the waters off Nova Scotia are still holding onto their summer warmth!

Why? Because water has a high specific heat capacity, meaning it takes longer to warm up and cool down than air. As a result, ocean temperatures typically peak later in the season, even as the days get shorter and the air gets cooler.

So what does this mean for the sharks?

Well, they’re still here in full force! October continues to provide incredible opportunities to encounter, observe, and study great white sharks in the Northwest Atlantic.

This spectacular photo was captured just a couple of days ago by returning cage diver and citizen scientist Sadie Swinimer. A great example of how our guests contribute to documenting and understanding these magnificent animals!

The air may be cooling, but shark season is not over yet!

Activities authorized under permit DFO-MAR-2026-8A

10/07/2026

10/05/2026

Great white sharks have the reputation of being mindless killers, but nothing could be farther from the truth. In reality, they are cautious, smart, and curious. Here a beautiful female great white investigates a camera hanging off our vessel.

Activities under DFO-MAR-2026-08A

09/26/2026

Meet Tank - a large female great white who we has shown strong site fidelity, which means repeated return use of our site. We first met her last year and she and shown repeated visits this year, revealing the ecological and conservation importance of our site to these sharks.

Who has had the privilege of encountering tank this season?

Activities conducted under permit DFO-MAR-2026-8A

Video by Geraldine Fernandez

09/26/2026

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.7358989

Spotting the fin of a great white shark slicing through the water sends most people bolting in the opposite direction, but not shark and marine ecology researcher, Neil Hammerschlag. He seeks these ocean predators as part of a conservation program that tracks and tags marine animals to map biodivers...

09/18/2026

It’s been a productive week.

Can you spot the 3 lasers on the shark used as a scale to measure the sharks as part of a collaborative project led by the FOME at Dalhousie University.

Video by Geraldine Fernandez

Activities under permit DFO-MAR-2026-8A

09/12/2026

We have new availability for our Great White Expedition this Tuesday Sept 15 out of Lower West Pubnico.

Join us to cage dive for science this Tuesday.
Book now: https://atlanticsharkexp.com/product/yarmouth-great-white-expeditions/

Activities authorized under permit DFO-MAR-2026-8A

Video: Robin Fisher

09/08/2026

One of the coolest things for our crew is seeing social interactions between sharks. They communicate through body language, often facing off to determine their social hierarchy.

Activities conducted under Permit DFO-MAR-2026-8A.



Drone video: Neil Hammerschlag
Underwater video: Geraldine Fernandez

09/06/2026

Meet Rookie — a 7-foot female great white shark!

We first met Rookie near the end of last season, and this year she’s become a familiar face, showing up on several of our expeditions.

What makes Rookie especially distinctive is a noticeable curvature in her body just before her tail, resembling scoliosis. Interestingly, spinal deformities such as scoliosis have been documented in sharks, both in the wild and in captivity.

But it certainly doesn’t seem to be slowing Rookie down! She’s an active and curious shark, that is showing more confidence over time.

Being able to recognize and repeatedly encounter individual sharks like Rookie allows us to follow them over time and learn more about their habitat use, behaviour, growth, and health.

Activities authorized under permit DFO-MAR-2026-08A

Video: Geraldine Fernandez