YARMOUTH, N.S. — A giant shark is arriving later this summer to be permanently mounted at the Yarmouth waterfront. The full-scale fibreglass model is a replica of a record-setting shark landed by Jamie Doucette of Wedgeport in 2004 during the Yarmouth Shark Scramble. It weighed 1,082 pounds and measured close to 11 feet long.
Photographs of the shark were sent around the globe and it became a viral sensation, with landing sites changing from Yarmouth to British Columbia, Texas, Washington, Chesapeake Bay and other locations.
Yarmouth Shark Scramble founder/organizer Bob Gavel says several sponsors have stepped up to help with the $10,000 cost of construction and that the Town of Yarmouth has a place picked out on the waterfront for it for display.
The model is being constructed in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
“It’s 11 feet, four inches in length. I got all the documents from DFO (Department Fisheries and Oceans) and it’s being built exactly like the Canadian record shark,” said Gavel.
“It should draw a lot of photo ops down on the waterfront,” he added.
Although the Shark Scramble committee was hoping to have the model completed and shipped for this year’s tournament, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
“It’s going to be touch and go because it’s such a big project,” said Gavel.
On July 17, Bob Brown, owner of Brown’s Taxidermy, said the replica was halfway done. “It’s sort of like how you make a boat,” he said about the building of the shark. “It’s not going to be light but it is hollow inside.”
His company has been in business for 40 years.
“It’s semi-prestigious that it’s a Canadian record and it’s for the club and it’s going to be displayed outside and hopefully with our name somewhere around it,” he said.
The 2019 Yarmouth Shark Scramble is Aug. 14 – 17 and Gavel says registrations are looking good.
“I think last year we had 14 boats and this year I’ve talked to about 16 that are coming. I think it’s going to be a lot bigger this year than it was last year.”
More about the Shark Scramble
To register for Aug. 14–17 Shark Scramble, call 902-742-1922.
