Rare shark ‘stabbed’ and left to die on Massachusetts beach

A rare baby sand tiger shark was found dead on a beach in Massachusetts early Wednesday morning.

The young shark was discovered on Saturday by a woman walking on a beach in Marshfield. Boston-Herald reported. The beach visitor put the stricken shark back into the water in the hope of reviving it and also reported the sighting to marine biologist John Chisholm.

The protected shark was reportedly caught by a bass fisherman and stabbed several times before being left to die on a south coast beach. Chisholm said it may have been a case of mistaken identity.

“The fisherman had caught it and apparently thought it was a spiny dogfish, a fish that is considered a nuisance and floods a fishing spot, so it is killed,” Chisholm told the Boston-Herald On Monday.

Newsweek reached out to Chisholm for further comment on Friday through the New England Aquarium and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

The DMF regulations list the sand tiger shark as a prohibited species, along with other species including the silky sand tiger shark, sandbar shark and bigeye sand tiger shark, and prohibits taking it.

The sand tiger shark, also called sand tiger shark or Carcharias taurus, is an endangered species on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It was last assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2020. Carcharias taurus is classified as critically endangered according to criterion A2bd.

Despite their fearsome appearance (characterized by a mouth full of protruding, sharp teeth), these sharks are known for their gentle nature.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Chisholm reiterated that fishermen have a responsibility to know their catch.

He posted a picture of the dead shark next to a picture of the distinctive features of spiny dogfish compared to sand tiger sharks and wrote: “They are often confused with spiny dogfish, but unlike them they are a banned species. Please spread the word.”

According to the marine conservation organization Oceana, sand tiger sharks are targeted by commercial fisheries for their fins, meat and oil, and for the global aquarium trade.

“Sand tiger sharks are primarily caught by line and line,” Oceana’s website states. “They are also at risk of commercial fishing and bycatch in bottom trawls and gill nets. Because of their near-shore habitat, sand tiger sharks are overfished and their populations declined by 75 percent between 1980 and 1990.”

“Overfishing and the sand tiger shark’s extremely low reproduction rate have led to the species being listed as critically endangered.”

Oceana warns that the sand tiger shark could become extinct if the shark fin trade is not ended and overfishing is not stopped.