14-foot thresher shark dies after stranding off Massachusetts waters

A 14-foot-long thresher shark died Tuesday after becoming stranded in shallow water off the coast of Massachusetts.

The New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA), a nonprofit organization that responded to the scene, told Fox News Digital Wednesday that the shark was first spotted alive at Mayo Beach in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, the animal died just before NECWA arrived at the site.

“Yesterday morning, NECWA received numerous calls about a possibly live thresher shark that was stranded in shallow water off Mayo Beach, Wellfleet, MA,” the alliance said in a Facebook post Wednesday. “Our team jumped into action and rushed to the site to try and rescue this shark. Unfortunately the animal died just before the team arrived.”

Photos from the scene show the large-eyed, slender thresher lying on the shore with an extremely long, whip-like tail, measuring about half the length of its body. The shark appeared injured with visible track-like marks on its body. 

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NECWA noted that the animal was already in poor condition by the time their team arrived and that a necropsy of the animal had been conducted.

“The fish that died in Wellfleet was alive when first sighted but was not in great shape,” Marine Biologist and President of NECWA Krill Carson told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to shark biologist John Chisholm for more information on the necropsy.

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The organization said strandings of thresher sharks are particularly common during the colder months along the shores of Cape Cod. Carson added that the majority of stranded threshers they encounter are male.

“Not unusual for thresher sharks to strand in New England in the fall as they are trying to navigate to warmer waters to the south,” the organization said in the Facebook post. “Like many marine animals, this shark took a wrong turn and ended up in Wellfleet’s inner harbor.”

After becoming stranded, thresher sharks are at high risk of dying because they cannot tolerate prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, Carson said. She noted that bay water temperatures at that time were roughly below 50 degrees and continued to drop.

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“A handful of threshers strand each season as they get trapped inside Cape Cod and are unable to continue their migration south,” Carson told Fox News Digital. “If they stay in our area too long, then they will become cold-stunned or cold-shocked and die.”

NECWA is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization. Contributions can be made at necwa.org.