It was zero dark thirty when I arrived at the site where the shark was last seen alive. The sunrise was beautiful that morning and I could only hope that the shark might still be alive. Unfortunately she had passed. The waves lapped over her, it was a sad sight to see such a magnificent animal lay lifeless on the rocks.
We had to tie her to a rock to prevent her from washing out to sea until
the marine biologist arrived to determine the next course of action.
She had to be removed from the area due to the proximity of a heavily
used walk/bike path. The odor of a decomposing shark
would have been less than desirable in the coming weeks.
By the time we were ready to bring her up the embankment a number
of onlookers had congregated to watch and even help.
The cause of her death...she was incidentally caught in a longliner fishing line and pulled up rapidly by a hydraulic reel to the surface causing her to have an embolism. If you'd like to read the local newspaper article describing the situation you can click HERE It does a far better job of explaining the ordeal.
I also encourage you to Google "longliner fishing" You will be surprised by how many deaths this type of fishing causes and not to just marine life. :(
It took a number of volunteers to lift her into the
back of a pickup. She has since been buried.
This shot shows her sharp teeth. I was privileged to be able to touch her.
Her beautiful skin was much like a very fine piece of sand paper.
That indigo blue color will be something I shall never forget.
It really was a shame she had to experience such a violent and unnecessary death.
As I was leaving the area I captured one of
the local fisherman doing his thing...
life goes on.
That is very sad, poor shark. Hopefully this death will raise awareness about the problem!
ReplyDeleteso sad, we have the same problem here in the gulf.
ReplyDeletethat's a shame.
ReplyDeleteHow sad. I hope she wasn't scared in her last moments.
ReplyDeleteI wanna do what you do. A lot of shark spot things there lately we hear
ReplyDeleteLily
Oh, that's so sad. (I wonder what would happen if the planet could manage to rid itself of the humans...)
ReplyDeleteI saw her photos on FB - I loved her color. I'm sad she passed.
ReplyDeleteMonty and Harlow
Hmm... Not the ending I had hoped for. We have the same problems with by-catch in several of the fisheries over here on the West Coast of Canada, a sad reality of commercial fishing.
ReplyDeleteOh this makes me soooo sad. My friends live in the oceans and skys and forest and my heart hurts when their precious lives are taken from them by selfish people with nets and stuff,,,
ReplyDeleteIt causes so much hurt.
The sea is crying.
love
tweedles
All those fishermen and fishing vessels often do so much harm to creatures they aren't trying to catch!
ReplyDelete