A dead, semi-frozen porbeagle shark washed ashore on a Cape Cod beach recently as record-breaking cold temperatures slammed the northeast. The bizarre discovery was made this past weekend after a beachgoer stumbled upon the apex predator.
With its mouth wide open, witnesses could see the shark’s piercing, sharp teeth. However, instead of fear, bystanders were left feeling sorry for the creature as it lay helpless in the ice-covered sand. The now-viral picture of the frost-covered shark is a stark example of just how frigid it’s been in the northeast as of late.
Local photographer Amie Medeiros was the first to come across the pitiful animal as they walked casually along Cold Storage Beach in Dennis, Massachusetts.
She paired the photo with a quote about ice and how it relates to real-life events.
“Ice contains no future, just the past, sealed away,” the photographer wrote. “As if they’re alive, everything in the world is sealed up inside, clear and distinct. Ice can preserve all kinds of things that way – cleanly, clearly. That’s the essence of ice, the role it plays.”
She added: “Def not what I was expecting to find on my frozen winter adventure.”
Local marine biologist examines ice-covered shark, says it’s now missing fins, tail, teeth
On Saturday, Medeiros captured the image of the shark encrusted in a layer of ice. The photo comes amid a brutal cold snap that plunged the state to subzero temperatures.
Massachusetts, along with many areas in the northeast, was recently slammed with a polar vortex, causing temperatures to plunge. In addition, Boston endured the coldest temperature in decades when the thermostat plummeted to minus 10.
Dissimilar to other shark species, the porbeagle is a warm-blooded shark, which allows it to live in areas such as the chilly waters of the North Atlantic. However, according to Oceana, porbeagles prefer cold, temperate waters.
Porbeagle sharks can measure 12 feet and weigh between 300 and 500 pounds.
Marine biologist John Chisholm from the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life believes the shark is the same creature that initially washed up a week earlier on another beach in the area and resurfaced and froze due to the below-freezing temps.
Later in the week, the marine biologist traveled to the beach to get some measurements of the shark and found that someone had removed its tail, dorsal fin, pectoral fin, and teeth.
Medeiros later told outlets that as of Sunday morning, nobody had arrived to collect the carcass. “It’s still there, stinky now, and people have taken its teeth,” she said.
