About us

Report a Shark, Skate or Ray in BC

Report a Shark, Skate or Ray in BC
If you catch a shark or skate while fishing or see one washed up on a beach, we want to hear from you! Here are some steps you can take quickly and with little equipment. Note if a beached shark is alive or shows any responsiveness - do NOT touch it. If you happen to catch the shark while fishing please take a photo and release the animal alive.

Essential information to record

  • Record date, time and location including GPS coordinates (if possible)
  • Length from tip of nose to tip of tail (use your foot length if no equipment is available)
  • Behaviour - if alive what was it doing
  • Sex – males have claspers
  • Any marks, injuries or fishing gear that suggests how the animal may have died

Photograph details to take

  • Whole animal, preferably the SIDE view (include hand or foot for scale)
  • Underside of the head and under the pectoral fins
  • Underside of the pelvic fins (verifies shark’s sex)
  • Teeth, close-up (verifies species identification)

Monday, November 5, 2007

Welcome to the Sharks, Skates and Rays of BC!

Hello everyone and welcome to our site. The purpose of this site is to provide as much info as we can to people who are curious about what sharks, skates and rays are found in BC waters. We are also gathering observations to help fill in knowledge gaps that exist for these species here. Information we collect can be useful over time to help identify trends, changes, presence and oddities in our waters, and it can also help us to ask better questions for research.

Ultimately, our goal is to raise awareness and appreciation of sharks, skates and rays, and to lower fears so that these ancient species can have the protection and respect that other species enjoy. We will post interesting findings here and happily respond to questions you may have about sharks, skates and rays in BC. You can reach us at shark_reports_bc@yahoo.ca . We look forward to hearing from you!
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