Elusive Sleeper Shark Washes Up At New Brighton State Beach

June 20, 2006

Release from: Nick Guroff
Santa Cruz Sentinel

CAPITOLA — A 14-foot Pacific sleeper shark, estimated at 1,500 pounds, washed ashore at New Brighton State Beach on Monday, only the second of its kind to reach local shores in more than a decade.

Researchers hoped the dead shark could reveal more about this elusive and little-understood species. But the carcass, which had been rotting at sea for days, provided few insights.

"This is a very valuable specimen, unfortunately we weren't able to get to it when it was in a pristine condition," said Sean Van Sommeran, executive director of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz.

Rangers spotted the carcass in the surf as many as six days ago. Rangers and researchers were able to maneuver the shark to shore Monday, said Sommeran. He and other volunteers performed a necropsy at noon before the tide came in.

Van Sommeran speculated the shark was a young adult, as the species can top out at more than 20 feet in length. Since little is known about the deep-sea species, an exact age is hard to determine, said David Casper, veterinarian at Long Marine Laboratory in Santa Cruz.

The 6,000-foot depths where adult sleeper sharks live and eat has prevented scientists from gaining much knowledge of the species. It is known to eat giant squid, octopus, rockfish, and possibly seals, Casper said. The shark can be found from Baja California to Japan.

Though the animal, because of its strength and size, could pose a danger to humans, there are no documented cases of sleeper shark attacks, Casper said.

Several 4- to 6-foot juvenile sleeper sharks have washed ashore in recent years, but this is only the second of its size to reach Santa Cruz County shores in the past decade, according to Casper.

"Large species tend to drop to the sea floor when they die," said Casper.

Sleeper sharks occasionally get caught in long lines and other fishing gear when crews are fishing for albacore and halibut, according to National Marine Fisheries Service reports.

Since humans don't eat sleeper sharks, fishermen often try to return them to the wild without injury, said Sommeran.

This might explain how a deep-water shark wound up so close to shore, said Casper.

The shark was lodged between rocks at the north end of the beach. It's carcass is now being left to the tides.

Had the necropsy been performed sooner, researchers may have been able to determine what the shark had been feeding on and the cause of death. They were able to extract teeth and some vital organs, though they do not expect to learn anything new about how the shark wound up on New Brighton beach.

Brandon Seratos, 4, who was at the beach with his stepfather, was less concerned with such questions. His greater concern was for the safety of a lone swimmer near the site of the beaching.

"Does that man know about sharks?" Brandon asked. "Will somebody save him?"