The Dorsal Fin

LiveScience has posted a follow-up about some pictures that surfaced earlier this year which depicted an albino “cyclops” shark that was reportedly caught in the Sea of Cortez. According to the LiveScience article, the specimen, which is a fetus cut from the womb of a caught pregnant dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), has been examined by researchers, who found that the single eye is composed of “functional optical tissue.” However, the report notes that the likelihood of survival had the shark been born would have been very low.

LiveScience also has a photo gallery of the specimen.

According to a statement from Paul Barrington, the shark involved in the Wrighstville Beach incident was erroneously identified as a sand tiger shark.

Contrary to statements made in a WECT.com feature on the recent shark attack at Wrightsville Beach, Paul Barrington of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher was quoted today in a Lumina News article as saying…

"A lot of the media has so far erroneously identified it as a sand tiger shark. It takes a tremendous amount of forensics to determine specifically what type of shark it is."

The WECT.com feature stated that Barrington believed that "a sand-tiger shark could have been the suspect" in the Wrightsville Beach incident. However, Barrington’s recent quotes seem to dispute that notion.

George Burgess stated in the Lumina News article that the species of shark involved will likely remain a mystery. Burgess and Barrington confirmed the shark was approximately 4′ in length. Barrington’s list of suspected species include the small sharpnose shark (the species with presently the largest population in coastal NC), the dusky, the sandbar, the lemon, the black tip or the spinner shark, according to the Lumina News article.