A shark in very bad shape has washed up on the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, all amid an increasing wave of fish getting caught in the area, a biologist said.
John Chisholm, a biologist at the New England Aquarium, received word on Jan. 10 that a porbeagle shark (also called a porbeagle or northern mako) was in trouble in the shallows off Sagamore Beach, Chisholm wrote on Twitter.
Chisholm arrived at the scene, and soon after the creature was moved into deeper water, but it later died, washed ashore by low tide, Chisholm said.
“When we were finally able to get him back, we realized he was very thin, another indication that something was wrong,” Chisholm told the McClatchy News.
After Michelle Passerotti, a doctor with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), performed an autopsy on the shark, it was discovered that the animal had a “very diseased” liver and an internal parasite, Chisholm said. Several samples were taken for analysis and to determine the cause of death.
This is the fourth shark of this species reported to have been caught in the area this winter, which is “unusual,” Passerotti told the Boston Herald. At the moment, it is unknown what caused the deaths.
The porbeagle shark is a highly mobile mackerel shark species commonly found in cold waters in various parts of the world.
“Many types of marine animals get trapped in this area,” Chisholm said. “The reasons vary, some are sick or injured, at this time of year the cold affects some and sometimes it’s just bad luck.”
Dolphins are notorious for stranding in the Cape Cod area, according to NOAA. More than 100 dolphins were trapped in the area in the winter of 2012.
Because Cape Cod has a hook shape, reaching the open sea to reach deeper waters is difficult for some sea creatures, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Translation by Jorge Posada