This article was published on 17 September 2026 and updated on 19 September 2026.
A diver was bitten by a shark and taken to hospital off Percé on the Gaspé Peninsula in Canada on 16 September 2026. The Canadian Coast Guard confirmed the incident to Global News. According to the Plongée Percé dive centre, the person’s life is not in danger.
Emergency crews met the injured diver in Percé
According to the Coast Guard, the maritime rescue coordination centre in Québec received the alert at around 10:27 a.m. local time. The diver was from the private vessel YODA, which is also part of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary. The time of the alert should not be treated as a precisely established time of the bite.
The injured person initially received first aid. Emergency crews met the boat on its return to Percé. The Canadian Press also reports the subsequent hospital transfer, citing the Coast Guard and the dive centre.
Plongée Percé suspends all diving activities
The company suspended diving for the rest of the season as a precaution. Out of respect for the person’s privacy, it initially withheld further details about the injuries and circumstances.
White shark identified by operator — details remain unclear
Plongée Percé described the animal involved as a white shark. The reports consulted do not provide an independently documented species identification. The operator later released details of the sequence of events, summarised in the update below.
Update of 19 September 2026
Plongée Percé explained the sequence of events on 18 September. According to its account reproduced by CIEU-FM, contact occurred after 33 minutes of diving during a three-minute safety stop at five metres. The instructor and one student held the stop line; the third diver was making a free stop at the same depth behind the instructor.
A noise alerted the instructor. The operator says he saw a great white beside the third diver; it disappeared within seconds. All three immediately surfaced and boarded the Yoda. The injured diver removed their own equipment, the Coast Guard was notified and the boat headed for the Percé wharf.
Six divers were taking part in two groups at the Bilbo dive site. The other group of three did not notice the incident, was first escorted to a rock near the island and was then picked up. This reconstruction rests on the operator’s account; it does not establish the cause of the attack.
Read more: Next diving season in Percé remains undecided after shark attack.