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.
