BOSTON — Even though it’s the heart of winter, sharks are still in our frigid waters.
One of those sharks washed up dead on a Cape Cod beach this week. Researchers responded to Wellfleet Harbor and took samples from the 6,000-pound basking shark.
Scientists are still trying to figure out what caused the fish’s death, but the stranded 26-foot female shark may have gotten trapped in the harbor due to the tides.
The stranding gave local shark researcher John Chisholm “déjà vu” from when a 24-foot basking shark washed up in the same spot in February 2017.
“Cape Cod Bay is the perfect natural fish trap,” Chisholm told the Herald. “As species are migrating south down the coast from Canada when the temperatures drop, they can be funneled into the Bay and hooked right up into Wellfleet Harbor.
“She maybe made a wrong turn, and once she got up there into the harbor, she may have been trapped with the tide,” he added. “It can just be bad luck.”
Researchers didn’t see any outward signs of trauma, like the shark being struck by a boat or being entangled in fishing gear.
No indication of illness
Internally, the scientists didn’t see anything that led them to think the shark was sick. The researchers estimated that it was about 15 years old, approaching maturity.
“We opened up her stomach, and it was full of bright orange krill, so it looks like she was feeding fine,” said Michelle Passerotti, fish biologist in the Northeast Fisheries Science Center Apex Predators Program.
“She had the typical callouses, and lumps and bumps that are fairly common on basking sharks,” she added. “And nothing indicating a ship strike, but that’s not always apparent.”
It’s possible that the shark simply got trapped, Passerotti said.
“She could have been in the shallows when the tide went out, and she just couldn’t get back out,” the scientist noted.
Because the shark is so huge, the researchers could not move the 3-ton fish.
Scavengers will feast on the shark’s giant liver, Chisholm said. Seagulls were already descending when the researchers were at the scene.
“Nature will take its course,” Chisholm noted.
Researchers ask anyone walking along a beach and seeing a stranded shark to immediately report it to town officials, on the Sharktivity app, and to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The quicker that people report a stranded shark, the faster scientists can get there and collect samples.
The NOAA Fisheries Stranding Hotline is 866-755-6622.
