Unusual marine animals wash ashore at popular Nova Scotia beach

A popular Nova Scotia beach had a pair of unusual marine animals wash up on its shores this week.

“It [Thresher Shark] was just barely peeking out of the water and it wasn’t alive, poor little thing. Well, he wasn’t so little…” said Ruth Burns, a Nova Scotia resident.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It [Thresher Shark] was just barely peeking out of the water and it wasn't alive, poor little thing. Well, he wasn't so little…" said Ruth Burns, a Nova Scotia resident.

Burns was going for a nighttime stroll with her son when they stumbled across the marine animal not typically found in Nova Scotia waters.

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“A lot of it is when the Gulf stream pushes closer to shore. So right now if you’re down on the beach, the water temperatures are fairly warm and that’s usually what brings some of these species up here,” said Heather Bowlby, the research lead at the Canadian Atlantic Shark Research Laboratory.

Bowlby said the species of shark is usually found in tropical waters and it wasn’t the only peculiar animal to come ashore Crystal Crescent Beach Provincial Park.

READ MORE: 2 dead marine animals found at Nova Scotia provincial park: DFO

A Blue Marlin, estimated to weigh 300 pounds, was also discovered on the beach.

While the cause of deaths for the animals is unknown, ocean scientists believe there are many threats in the waters that could lead to the death of these animals.

“The ocean has become a very busy place. So you could be hit by a ship, you could be caught on a fishing line, there’s other threats that are novel to these environments that the species are not adapted to,” said Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University.

The Thresher Shark was donated to Dalhousie University to be dissected and studied by ocean students.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans haven’t yet confirmed whether a necropsy will be performed on the Blue Marlin, but it is currently being housed in cold storage at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.