TORONTO -- As summer temperatures warm Canadian waters, sharks are returning to the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia.
A shows a shark swimming along side a family鈥檚 boat near Wedgeport, N.S.
The footage, captured by Samantha LeBlanc on July 22, shows the shark swimming next to the family鈥檚 speedboat, its fin appearing out of the surf.
As the speedboat gets closer, the shark can be seen just under the water鈥檚 surface.
that their boat is just under 6 metres (19 feet) long and that the shark was 鈥渢hree quarters the size鈥� of the vessel.
She said the shark appeared to be a great white and was not tagged.
LeBlanc said her family could not believe their eyes when they saw the shark in Canadians waters, calling the sighting a "dream come true."
She added that her family decided to name the shark "Giganto."
According to the , Giganto is the first great white shark sighting in the area this year.
While the great white shark is one of the most feared creatures on the planet, scientists with research group OCEARCH have had success tagging the fish off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Last year, the team attached SPOT tags to the fins of 11 great white sharks. Their expedition started near Cape Breton then moved to the South Shore near Hirtles Beach, where they had tagged six sharks in 2018.
OCEARCH's first Nova Scotia expedition in 2018 was largely inspired by a great white shark named Hilton that was tagged near Hilton Head S.C. in March 2017.
Hilton spent most of its time along Nova Scotia's south shore that summer, into the early fall and returned to the same spot the following year.
Despite COVID-19, the OCEARCH team hopes to return to Atlantic Canada in the fall for more tagging expeditions.
