{"id":1197,"date":"2008-10-25T16:00:49","date_gmt":"2008-10-25T20:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=1197"},"modified":"2008-10-29T21:21:28","modified_gmt":"2008-10-30T01:21:28","slug":"yikes-11-foot-blue-shark-in-wellfleet-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=1197","title":{"rendered":"Yikes! 11-Foot Blue Shark in Wellfleet Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Male\u00c2\u00a0Blue Shark (Prionace glauca) in Wellfleet Bay<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Holy mackerel!\u00c2\u00a0 Has Jaws wandered into paradise?\u00c2\u00a0 Who will save the children?\u00c2\u00a0 Who will save the turtles?\u00c2\u00a0 Where is Quinn when you really need him?<\/p>\n

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Amazing Find on the Tidal Flats off Lieutenant Island<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Not often does a large pelagic shark find its way into the shallows of Wellfleet Bay.\u00c2\u00a0 They prefer the deep, cool waters of the Atlantic Ocean.\u00c2\u00a0 On a few occasions in fall, Don has encountered basking sharks scooping plankton from high tide flooded creeks and coves within the Wellfleet Bay estuarine system.\u00c2\u00a0 But an 11-foot blue shark is a surprising find on the tidal flats off Lieutenant Island.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, Virginia, the very same tidal flats where kids from four to one hundred four play all summer long, and much more importantly, where we all go wading in\u00c2\u00a0chest-high water for terrapins.\u00c2\u00a0 Kind-a gives you goose bumps down your spine, doesn’t it?\u00c2\u00a0 No doubt we’ll add another risk waiver form for interns and volunteers for the 2009 research season.<\/p>\n

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Sue Wieber Nourse Provides Sizing Perspective<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sue,\u00c2\u00a0proudly sporting her Williams sweatshirt, provides sizing perspective for the leviathan.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0This male shark measured 3.37 meters (almost precisely 11 feet) from the point of\u00c2\u00a0his\u00c2\u00a0snout to the trailing tip of\u00c2\u00a0his caudal fin.\u00c2\u00a0 The fork length (snout to center of caudal fin fork)\u00c2\u00a0was about 8.5 feet.\u00c2\u00a0 And, yes, the more scientific length is the fork length measurement, but the 11-foot shark headline\u00c2\u00a0reads so much more impressively than an 8.5-foot shark.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dorsal fin rose 28 centimeters (11 inches)\u00c2\u00a0above\u00c2\u00a0his back.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

We had no scale nor a means to get one to the scene.\u00c2\u00a0 The only estimate of weight comes from Don Lewis as he moved the critter for various measurements and then for the necropsy.\u00c2\u00a0 His back suggests a weight in the range of\u00c2\u00a0250+ pounds,\u00c2\u00a0supported by estimated shark length-to-weight charts.<\/p>\n

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Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Blue Shark from Tooth to Tail<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What an extraordinary opportunity to examine such an apex predator at close quarters!\u00c2\u00a0 October’s low sun angle enhanced the shark’s blue hue, casting\u00c2\u00a0long, deep\u00c2\u00a0shadows that\u00c2\u00a0magnified\u00c2\u00a0his powerful form.\u00c2\u00a0 These signal moments\u00c2\u00a0spark heightened excitement for humans when adrenaline spikes\u00c2\u00a0as you\u00c2\u00a0approach animals that can actually eat you.\u00c2\u00a0 “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”\u00c2\u00a0 No question; you can add\u00c2\u00a0blue sharks\u00c2\u00a0to that mantra as they\u00c2\u00a0are listed\u00c2\u00a0among\u00c2\u00a0the top ten “world’s most dangerous sharks.”<\/p>\n

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You\u00c2\u00a0appreciate the animal’s\u00c2\u00a0lethal power as you take measurements, none more impressive than teeth size, mouth width and gape.\u00c2\u00a0 Once adrenaline levels subside, a feeling of sadness and a sense of loss\u00c2\u00a0rise.\u00c2\u00a0 The unexpected death of such a magnificent\u00c2\u00a0creature that fills a\u00c2\u00a0critical niche in the ocean ecosystem\u00c2\u00a0is disconcerting.\u00c2\u00a0 We hope that a quick in situ necropsy might provide a clue to this blue shark’s demise.<\/p>\n

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Bob Prescott & Brad Timm Observe as Don Lewis Prepares for Necropsy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since “Quinn”\u00c2\u00a0is long gone\u00c2\u00a0and Greg Skomal<\/a> wasn’t in town, we did the best we could without a shark expert on hand.\u00c2\u00a0 Between Bob Prescott (Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a> director), Sue Wieber Nourse<\/a> (Jaeger\u00c2\u00a0Chair for Marine Studies at Tabor), Brad Timm<\/a> (UMass Amherst) and Don Lewis<\/a> (Turtle Guy), we\u00c2\u00a0managed a quick\u00c2\u00a0examination of the blue shark’s internals.\u00c2\u00a0 The animal was extremely fresh.<\/p>\n

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Powerful Blue Shark with Wellfleet Bay in Background<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In\u00c2\u00a0summary, we found no smoking gun.\u00c2\u00a0 No identifiable premortem injuries or abrasions.\u00c2\u00a0Lots of parasites in and on the liver,\u00c2\u00a0in the stomach and in other cavities.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Nothing else\u00c2\u00a0in the stomach except for a few\u00c2\u00a0remnant fish eye lenses and nothing else we could detect within the gastro-intestinal tract.\u00c2\u00a0 The GI sysem was largely devoid of food.\u00c2\u00a0 We collected samples of parasites, liver tissue\u00c2\u00a0and tissue from beneath the dorsal fin.\u00c2\u00a0 We have no conjecture beyond\u00c2\u00a0mere guesswork about the cause of death.<\/p>\n

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Open Wide and Say, “Ah”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Male\u00c2\u00a0Blue Shark (Prionace glauca) in Wellfleet Bay Holy mackerel!\u00c2\u00a0 Has Jaws wandered into paradise?\u00c2\u00a0 Who will save the children?\u00c2\u00a0 Who will save the turtles?\u00c2\u00a0 Where is Quinn when you really need him? Amazing Find on the Tidal Flats off Lieutenant Island Not often does a large pelagic shark find its way into the shallows of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[824],"tags":[730,727,724,725,100,732,509,733,734,270,102,735,598,726,242,423,731,435,828,728,103,729],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1197"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1221,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions\/1221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}