It’s been a busy time for marine wildlife rescuers and researchers, as extra sharks have been lately discovered useless alongside the Cape shoreline.
The sharks this time of yr try to navigate out of Cape Cod Bay to hotter southern waters, however generally they take a fallacious flip and get caught.
A type of lately stranded sharks was a feminine juvenile sand tiger shark.
“These little sharks are more and more common in estuaries along the New England coast during the summer but they like warm water,” stated John Chisholm, adjunct scientist on the New England Aquarium.
“Our tagging work has shown they should be far south of Cape Cod by now,” he added. “… Cape Cod acts like a natural fish trap, catching sharks and other marine life as they migrate south as water temperature drops.”
Additionally over the weekend, a 3rd thresher shark washed up useless alongside the Cape.
The male shark stranded on Nice Island in Wellfleet.
“We were able to get positional information, photos, and length measurements for the State,” posted the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance.
“Again these are healthy fish that made a navigational error as they were heading south,” NECWA added. “Very sad.”
Rescuers have additionally been very busy with torpedo ray strandings in latest days. With the assistance of the group, NECWA was capable of establish and acquire 17 stranded useless Atlantic torpedos — also called torpedo rays — alongside the northern shores of Cape Cod.
For any ray that washed up useless, NECWA collected pictures, physique measurements, weights and tissues.
If a carcass was faraway from the seashore as a result of excessive chilly situations, then that carcass and any eliminated tissues (liver, muscle, and so on.) have been returned for gulls to feast on.
“Scientists that NECWA has spoken to do not feel that these strandings are due to cold-stunning,” NECWA posted. “It is believed that torpedo rays live in our New England waters year round. However little is known about their biology and movements offshore. That is why the work conducted by NECWA is vital to enhance our understanding of this little know species that is the only electric ray in our waters.”
This season, NECWA has documented 41 stranded rays — which is half of final season right now.
“Why this species strands predominantly in the fall and early winter is not known, but NECWA will continue to conduct our rescue, research, and observations on this species,” NECWA added. “We thank the community for all their help in reporting and retrieving carcasses and in rescuing live stranded animals. It takes a village and this village is making a difference!”
To report stranded marine wildlife, go to www.necwa.org.
