‘Fin-sighting protocol’ followed at Queensland Beach Sunday

Nova Scotians flock to our many beaches all summer long to spend a relaxing day playing in the sand and surf, but those who chose to go to Queensland Beach on Sunday got a big adrenaline rush.

Shortly after noon the water was cleared after lifeguards spotted a fin in the water just outside the supervised area.

Paul D’Eon, director of the Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service, said they followed “fin-sighting protocol,” which involves using a megaphone to get everyone back onto the beach.

“We clear the water immediately for two hours and we keep looking,” he told NEWS 95.7’s The Sheldon MacLeod Show. 

“After two hours if we’ve had no more sightings, we allow people to go back in, but we recommend they go waist deep, don’t go out into deep water.”

It’s not unusual for sunfish to be mistaken for sharks, but according to D’Eon said the lifeguards who spotted this fin say it looked like the latter.

“If we’re going to err on this one, we should err on the side of caution,” he said. “They had distinctive shark-like movements from this fin, along with the shape of this fin, according to the lifeguards.”

“Better to be safe than sorry,” he added.

D’Eon checks the OCEARCH app every day, which allows the public to track the locations of sharks that have been tagged by the American research group.

“At Crescent Beach we had one that was fairly close to Rissers. We had our lifeguards alerted to keep an eye out,” he said. 

There are currently three great whites being tracked along the South Shore. On Sunday, Vimy pinged near Kejimkujik National Park Seaside. On Friday, Ironbound was detected near Moshers Island, not far from Hirtles Beach, and Hal was near Heckmans Island.

And if there are three we know about, there are likely many more we don’t. Despite that, experts say the risk of an attack is very low.

In an interview earlier this month, Dalhousie University researcher and executive director of the Ocean Tracking Network, Fred Whoriskey said sharks are attracted to seals, not people.

However, he did recommend staying away from seals, avoiding swimming at dawn or dusk, not going into the water if you’re bleeding and not splashing around, as it may send a signal to a shark that there’s prey in distress.

D’Eon added there’s a bigger threat Nova Scotians should be concerned about at the beach.

“This is hurricane season in the North Atlantic. We’re going to get some waves in the next week or two or three,” he said. “Don’t go overestimating your ability going into the waves, watch out for rip currents, keep an eye on your kids and wear life jackets.”

“That sort of water safety stuff, to me, is the most important message right now.”