Shark Beachings Puzzle Experts

September 17, 2007

Release from: Steve Ritea
News Day

Fish experts and city officials say they aren't sure why two thresher sharks have washed up on the same city beach within the last two weeks, although one researcher said weekend anglers who let the creatures dangle on their lines could be to blame.

"Something has to happen to make them disoriented enough to swim toward the beach as opposed to away from it," said Hans Walters, a shark researcher with the New York Aquarium. "If anything happens to make them unable to swim, then they can't force oxygen over their gills."

The most recent stranding came Saturday, when a 3-to-6-foot shark was found on Rockaway Beach near Beach 55th Street, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said. A park manager and police officers pushed the shark gently back into the surf, and it swam off, he said.

Found in an empty stretch of beach on a cool day, the fish didn't cause as much commotion as another thresher shark that drove hundreds of swimmers from the water and closed more than 10 blocks of another part of Rockaway Beach for hours on Sept. 1.

That shark, about the same size, also was nudged back into the sea, but washed up dead the next day.

Walters said it's also worth noting that both strandings happened on Saturdays, raising suspicion that inexperienced weekend anglers could leave the sharks hooked on their lines, unable to move forward and receive oxygen, or out of the water until they're thrown back. That can lead to brain damage, he said, just like when a person is deprived of oxygen.

Officials said they don't believe any environmental problem is to blame.

Walters said he's encouraged that the latest shark who appeared at Rockaway will survive, if only because it remained unseen Sunday night, more than 24 hours since it was pushed back out into the water. That shark could also have died at sea, however.

The shark found on the beach Sept. 1 reappeared dead less than 24 hours later.

Recognized by the long tails they use to swat and stun their prey, thresher sharks can grow longer than 10 feet. They are considered largely harmless to people.