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Dead shark washes ashore on South Shore beach as Cape sightings pile up
The cause of the death of the thresher shark at Duxbury Beach is being investigated.
Sharks:
A dead shark washed up on a South Shore beach Thursday morning, coinciding with confirmed great white shark sightings on the Cape.
John Chisholm, a shark researcher with the New England Aquarium, received a report from fishermen about a thresher shark “acting odd” in very shallow water off Duxbury Beach Wednesday night.
The following morning, it washed up dead, Chisholm posted to X.
The shark was a mature male that was 12 feet long. Researchers recovered the shark for a necropsy.
Chisholm says a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologist and crew are determining the cause of death.
According to NOAA, common thresher sharks are predators that feed on schooling fish such as herring and mackerel. Their long, scythe-like tail, which they use to stun fish before preying on them, gives them their name.
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Thresher sharks are found along the eastern coast of the U.S. from Newfoundland to Cuba.
In an email to Boston.com, Chisholm said thrashers are common in New England this time of year and are often caught by fishermen. However, they are normally found further offshore.
Meanwhile, sightings along Cape Cod began to pile up on Thursday.
On X, Chisholm noted that a great white shark was spotted 150 yards off North Beach Island in Chatham.
On Thursday, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy Sharktivity app also reported three more sightings along South Monomoy Island, off of Chatham.
The app also had three beacons in the outer Cape that detected three separate great white sharks.
On Thursday, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy also posted a short video on X of shark researcher Greg Skomal tagging two white sharks off the Outer Cape.
Lastly, WHDH-TV reported that Smugglers Beach and Parkers River Beach in Yarmouth temporarily went to a “wading only” order due to reports of shark sightings. However, those sightings were never confirmed, and the beaches were soon reopened for swimming.
Yarmouth Department of Natural Resources did not immediately return a call requesting more information.
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