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IGLULIGAARJUK/CHESTERFIELD INLET - A Chesterfield Inlet fisherman spied something with a bit more bite than char one recent morning.

Joey Papak was on the water early on July 31 when he spotted what he believes was a Greenland shark.

"I was changing my hook when I saw what I thought was a seal out in the water at first. But after five, 10 minutes of watching, I realized what it really was," he said.

"First it was trying to eat a seagull. It didn't catch it, went down under the surface and I didn't see it again. I was shocked, it was the first time up close to see a shark, and it wasn't that far, 50 or 60 feet away from me."

What he saw was a dorsal fin attached to a dark grey body a little more than 4 m long.

Kevin Issaluk, who was also out that morning, was glassing the water for beluga whales when he made the same strange sighting.

"It was only for a second. He went up and under, and if it was a beluga whale it would have come up again but it didn't," he said.

After chatting with Papak about what he saw, conservation officer Peter Kattegatsiak confirmed the dark charcoal fish was likely a Greenland shark.

The species, which has been known to grow to up to 6 m in length, is more common around Baffin Island.

There was one sighted in the Chesterfield Inlet area a few years ago, but not this close to the town, Kattegatsiak said.

This particular fish might have wandered in after food, he explained.

While the species usually feeds on fish such as char, halibut and capelin, it has been known to catch larger animals such as seals.

"We've had quite a bit of seals in front of the town and around the area, due to the fact that the seals are chasing after the smaller fish, so that could be it," Kattegatsiak said.

There was also one sighted around Rankin Inlet's Marble Island a few years ago, according to Issaluk.

After coming off the water, Papak went directly to the local radio station to report it.

"That's the first time I heard of someone seeing a shark, I think I'm one of the first to see one up close," he said. "Everyone - kids, adults - were asking what colour it was."

Greenland sharks aren't considered dangerous to humans. In Iceland and Greenland, they are hunted for food, although they must be prepared carefully in order to not be poisonous.