On Wednesday morning, nearly 30 dead dogfish sharks washed up on a beach in New Jersey for unknown reasons, alarming local residents who witnessed this horrifying scene.
According to ABC News, this “shark graveyard” appeared on a stretch of beach in Sea Isle City.
A local resident out for a walk on Wednesday morning suddenly came across many shark carcasses scattered along the coastline spanning 10 city blocks.
Experts say these small sharks, ranging from 3 to 5 feet (about 0.9 to 1.5 meters) in length, usually swim in groups ranging from hundreds to thousands. The cause of their deaths is currently unknown.
Stephen Nagiewicz, a marine scientist at Stockton University, told ABC that there are several possible reasons for the sharks’ deaths. One possibility is that there was some substance in the water that made them sick and die, but this is less likely as humans were not affected. Another possibility is that they were caught by fishermen and thrown back into the sea, or that fishermen accidentally lost a net full of catch, causing these sharks to wash up on the beach with the tide.
Dogfish sharks are relatively common along the New Jersey coast and the east coast of the Americas, with weights typically ranging from 8 to 22 pounds (about 3.6 to 10 kilograms). Due to their abundant numbers, fishermen often refer to dogfish sharks as “trash fish” because they can eat the bait used to catch other fish.
In the summer, dogfish sharks migrate north and come closer to the coast, while in the winter, they migrate south to offshore waters. Due to accidental captures by commercial and recreational fishermen (by-catch), the population of some dogfish shark species has seen a decline in recent years.