Shark found washed up on beach in Wellington Harbour

Wednesday, 1 February 2017

A shark pup has washed up on the Petone shoreline.

A shark has been found washed up on a Lower Hutt beach, but experts say there is no need to panic at its presence in Wellington Harbour.

The dead Porbeagle shark pup was discovered on the Petone foreshore on Tuesday, providing a curious sight for those walking near the shallows.

Niwa principal scientist and shark expert Dr Malcolm Francis said spotting a shark like this in Wellington Harbour was unusual.

A shark pup was found washed up on the Petone shoreline on Tuesday.

'It's not common to see [Porbeagle sharks] on the coast like this. They're an open ocean species and live mainly out past the edge of the continental shelf,' he said.

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It was not known on Wednesday how the shark died.

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'We've tagged quite a few in the past. They migrate vertically between the shallow water and very deep water every day.'

But people should not be concerned by the shark's decision to visit Petone, Francis said.

'They're harmless. They're a close relative of the Mako shark, they look very similar. The Porbeagle is basically a stockier version of the Mako shark.'

Porbeagles were about 70cm long at birth and could grow to 2.3 metres in New Zealand waters, he said.

The cause of the shark's death was unclear.

'I can't see any netting damage or anything on it. It might have been caught by a fisherman and discarded from a fishing boat,' Francis said.

'Or it might have just wandered into the harbour and got lost. It's been pretty windy out there so it might have gotten rolled around by surf or something like that if it got into shallow water.'

Victoria University student Britney Finucci, who is doing a PhD on sharks, was at the Petone foreshore on Wednesday measuring the Porbeagle and taking samples.

rushed out to record its details when she saw people posting about it on social media.

Finucci said it was a young a male, but she did not know what killed it.

She planned to measure and weigh it, and she said it was a good opportunity to gather information about a shark that is an important commercial variety.

PORBEAGLE SHARKS

Slow-growing and vulnerable to over-fishing
Related to Mako sharks
Mainly caught as bycatch by longline tuna fisheries

Source: Forest & Bird