'Extremely elusive' shark caught on camera swimming off B.C. coast

A group of scuba divers had the rare opportunity to swim with an "extremely elusive" shark off B.C.'s South Coast this week – and the incredible encounter was captured on video.

The juvenile bluntnose sixgill shark was spotted Thursday evening near the community of Lions Bay, just north of Vancouver, at a depth of around 50 feet.

For avid diver Mitchell Hewitt, it was a dream come true.

"The bluntnose sixgill is kind of the pinnacle of what divers want to find in Howe Sound because they're so rare," said Hewitt, a marine biologist with consulting firm Keystone Environmental.

"We were able to spend about 10 minutes with the shark – it was amazing."

Hewitt said the creatures are typically found between 550 and 7,000 feet below the surface, but juveniles will occasionally venture out into the shallows.

Finding them is not easy though. Hewitt said he goes diving every day during the summer in the hopes of catching a glimpse of one.

On a good day, divers in the area might spot a giant Pacific octopus, or a spiny lumpsucker – but more often are treated to the sight of lingcod and jellyfish.

Hewitt described Thursday's shark encounter as a potentially once-in-a-lifetime event. The bluntnose even briefly swam up between his legs.

"It was just a gentle giant, like a big sea puppy," he said.

While scuba divers generally endeavour to keep their composure while under water for safety reasons, Hewitt had trouble containing his excitement – as you can hear on his recording, captured on an Olympus EM-1 Mark II camera.

"You can hear that I'm breathing about as hard as a person can because I was freaking out," he said. "I was on pins and needles for hours after that."

Hewitt's work sometimes involves rebuilding degraded reefs and sand blankets, or performing "bio inventory," the process of cataloguing species in a given area.

He told CTV News he wanted to share his shark encounter to show people the kinds of awe-inspiring creatures lurking not far from home.

"It's just a great opportunity for the public to actually see what's in the waters near us," he said. 

Hewitt also stressed that swimmers should not worry about running into a bluntnose in English Bay or Kitsilano Beach. Not only would it be extremely unlikely to spot one of the sharks that near to the shore, there has reportedly only been one bluntnose-involved attack on a human recorded worldwide since the 1500s.

"I don't want people to be frightened by this," Hewitt said. "It's a beautiful, docile shark."