Porbeagle shark found stranded, dead on Cape Cod beach; Necropsy being done on aggressive ocean predator

Porbeagle shark

A necropsy is being conducted after a porbeagle shark, an aggressive ocean predator, was found stranded and dead on a Cape Cod beach Thursday, July 1, 2021, authorities said. (Atlantic White Shark Conservancy)

A necropsy is being conducted after a porbeagle shark, an aggressive ocean predator, was found stranded and dead on a Cape Cod beach Thursday, authorities said.

The shark was discovered on First Encounter Beach in Eastham, according to a tweet from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that works to improve scientific research, educate the public about sharks and track sightings of the animal.

“Unfortunately, the porbeagle shark was not alive when responders arrived,” the conservancy said.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service Apex Predator Program were expected to retrieve the shark to conduct the necropsy, according to the conservancy.

The porbeagle shark, also known as the salmon shark, is a wide-ranging, aggressive creature that has a fish-based diet, consisting of mackerel, herring, hake, cod and dogfish. The creature doesn’t prey on marine mammals, though, according to Oceana, an international organization that’s focused on protecting the world’s oceans.

“Like dogs, porbeagle sharks are very active and have muscular bodies, giving them the endurance to swim extensive seasonal migrations for feeding and reproduction,” the organization says on its website, noting that because of its size, the animal doesn’t have a known natural predator.

The discovery of the dead porbeagle comes as shark season remains in full swing. Other sharks have been detected swimming near the coast of Cape Cod recently.

A great white shark by the name of “Scratchy” has been detected multiple times swimming near a buoy in Chatham this summer, marking the eighth year in a row that the underwater predator has returned to the coast of Massachusetts.

Another great white named “Freya,” an animal that weighs 883 pounds, pinged off the coast of Nantucket around 5:35 p.m. last Sunday, according to OCEARCH, a nonprofit that, like the conservancy, tracks shark movements.

“Like many white sharks, Freya is continuing her way North!” the organization wrote in a Facebook post on June 21, the day the animal was detected swimming around the Block Island Sound off Montauk, New York. “She is likely following schools of Menhaden as a food source. We’ve seen some of our sharks come to this area in the past.”

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