The Dorsal Fin

Fox 5 San Diego is reporting that two SCUBA divers had an encounter with what was described as a “5-foot great white shark” off La Jolla Cove, last week. Lifeguards did not consider the presence of the animal to be a threat to swimmers, due to the fact that it was spotted “500 yards” from shore and was a relatively small shark. A 5-foot white shark would almost certainly be a juvenile specimen.

It should be noted that the species of shark shown in the first clip of stock footage in the Fox 5 report is not actually a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). The shark seen in the first clip is sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus), which are not native to California waters.

The reported sighting of a great white shark off of La Jolla is not particularly uncommon, but lifeguard Lt. John Everhart told Fox 5 that often times that sightings of other species such as dolphins or sea lions are misreported as shark sightings, by “people that aren’t used to the area or the ocean.” However, Everhart did not seem to indicate that that he felt that this particular incident was a case of mistaken identity.

A sand tiger shark's fins are critical for its mobility and ability to catch prey.

DelwareOnline.com is reporting that a team of graduate students found two sand tiger sharks with their fins removed in Delaware Bay. The students, from Delaware State University, had set out a multi-line hook as part of a shark research trip this past summer. On two separate occasions, sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) were found with their fins removed.

In both cases, the sharks were still alive, despite having their fins removed. However, the article noted that their ability to survive would have been highly compromised after having their fins removed. Typically, sharks that are finned sink to the sea floor and drown. It is theorized that the sand tiger sharks might have survived the initial finning due to a unique ability to maintain neutral buoyancy by storing air.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to dive with some sand tiger sharks off the North Carolina coast. Unfortunately, the juvenile sand tiger in the video above had apparently been hooked on what appears to be a fisherman’s bottom rig. The young shark was swimming around inside the hull of the USS Indra. The shark appeared to have a treble hook in its lower jaw with a lead sinker dangling from it.

The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) is a protected species in U.S. waters. However, due to the unpredictable nature of fishing, sand tigers can be accidentally hooked by fisherman. It is unclear whether this particular shark was hooked accidentally and broke the line, or the line was simply cut.

A diver had told us he attempted to remove the hook from the shark on a previous dive. He said he had “wrestled” with the shark for quite some time during the attempt, but his efforts proved unsuccessful.

In a rather bizarre follow-up to the story about a sand tiger shark being found dead on Carolina Beach, a 15-year-old boy told WWAY-3 that he and some other teens were ordered by police to pull a sand tiger shark from the surf and allow it to die on the beach.

However, Carolina Beach Police Chief William Younginer says that’s not the case. According to Younginer, “once the first officers arrived on scene, the shark was out of the water and the shark never went back to the water.” Younginer went on to say that the officers believed the shark had already been out of the water too long to save. Experts believe the sand tiger shark, which is a protected species, was caught by a fisherman.

The sand tiger shark was dumped in a maintenance yard to decompose, where all of its teeth were later removed by a unidentified person.

The teen who made the claims to WWAY-3 says he is standing by his story.

WECT.com is reporting that an 8′ sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) washed up on Carolina Beach last night around 11:30pm. According to the report, “police pulled the shark out of the water and let it die on shore.” The shark was pulled from the water by a tow-truck and “towed throughout the beach town.”

The sand tiger shark had punctures around the mouth area indicative of having been caught and reeled in. The sand tiger is listed as a prohibited species by the National Marine Fisheries Service.