Dead 12-foot shark abandoned in Aberdeen parking lot
Oct 25, 2012, 4:23 PM | Updated: 11:27 pm
Lisa Hillier with Fish & Wildlife is seen with the shark during the necropsy/dissection of the Thresher shark that mysteriously appeared in Aberdeen. (Davy Lowry Photo/Dept. of Fish & Wildlife)
(Davy Lowry Photo/Dept. of Fish & Wildlife)
Authorities in Aberdeen would like to talk with anyone who can explain how a dead shark was left at a boat launch on the Wishkah River.
It appears to be a 12-foot Thresher shark and was left overnight in the parking lot.
Dr. Davy Lowry with the Department of Fish and Wildlife said there wasn’t an immediate indication of what might have killed the Thresher shark. Their guesses range from an intentional capture of the shark to some sort of fishery that may have caught it on accident and discarded it.
“As to how it got a couple miles up the river – we have no idea,” said Lowry. “It could have been washed in the with tide, it could have been dragged up there before it was discarded.”
The Thresher shark species grows up to 20 feet and weighs in at just over 1000 pounds, according to Lowry. “We had no weight for [the shark] because we weren’t able to get scales to it, but (it was) 12 and-a-half feet. While respectable, that’s not huge.”
The Thresher shark doesn’t hunt dolphin, porpoise or whale, according to Lowry. Since its targets aren’t large prey, it doesn’t consider humans a target.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
