She returned to Quebec just in time for Shark Week. The 10-foot-long white shark named Bella was tagged and released in Nova Scotia on July 18, 2025, and travelled as far south as the Mississippi Sound, sending a ping near New Orleans in March. At the end of June, she was near the northeast tip of Prince Edward Island and on Sunday she made her way back to the Gulf of Saint-Lawrence, giving off a ping near the uninhabited Ile-Brion in the Magdalen Islands archipelago. The St. Lawrence Shark Observatory (ORS) posted the first white shark sighting in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on June 26, and it was Bella. The sighting happened days after the ORS posted its season advisory about sharks’ presence in the gulf. The ORS says that white sharks are regularly present along Canada’s East Coast, including in the St. Lawrence Gulf and Estuary from June through November. “Over the last decade, sightings have increased dramatically throughout Atlantic Canada and Quebec,” the ORS says. “While some have attributed this trend to climate change, ORS lead researcher Jeffrey Gallant’s current working hypothesis is that it primarily reflects the recovery of the Northwest Atlantic white shark population following decades of legal protection.” Gallant believes that when the population reaches a certain threshold, younger sharks may head north to reduce competition with adults. Climate change, the ORS says, may have lengthened the period of their stay by as much as six months. The OCEARCH Science and Fishing teams are tracking Bella out of the University of Windsor to better understand white sharks’ movements, behaviours, and lives in Atlantic Canada. When she was tagged, Bella was a large juvenile girl weighing around 729 pounds. “Her presence in these waters adds valuable data to the growing body of research about how white sharks use Canadian coastal habitats during the summer and fall months,” OCEARCH says on its site tracking the shark. In tracking her, researchers say they will gain insight into her migration patterns, habitat use, and how the animals use Canadian waters. “But her journey is more than just scientific; it’s a symbol of the collective effort it takes to protect them,” the OCEARCH researchers say. White shark fun facts
