On Thursday morning, a photographer from South Jersey claimed to have seen a dead shark on the beach close to Ventnor City’s fishing pier, sparking interest in the animal on social media.
The shark was captured on camera by Kristian Gonyea as part of a series of images he shot of the Jersey Shore city around sunrise.
Gonyea estimated the shark’s length to be between 4 and 5 feet, but he was unable to identify its species right away. Halfway between low and high tide, at around 5:30 a.m., he took this picture.
Naturally, over the years, I’ve seen a few lesser sharks, but that was most likely one of the larger ones, Gonyea said. I’m always on the beach in the mornings because I go out and take pictures of the sunrise, and I just happened to catch it.
According to Ventnor City Police Chief Joseph T. Wootton, authorities were unable to find the shark on the beach and had not received any reports about it. When NJ Advance Media inquired as to whether anyone else had reported the shark, beach patrol troops set out to find it.
In an email to NJ Advance Media, Wootton stated that neither the beach patrol nor the police department had been notified of this. In order to make sure the area was free and nothing was found, I also had patrol descend and look around.
Sheila Dean, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, said the nonprofit had not been notified about the shark. According to Dean, they don’t usually answer calls regarding non-marine mammals washing up on the shore.
Dean speculated that the shark might have washed up after being captured by a fisherman who released it earlier because it was discovered near the pier.
Because sharks are chasing large quantities of baitfish close to the coast, marine experts speculated last year that sightings of sharks may be on the rise in New Jersey.
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