Shallow Water Shocker! Shark Found in Massachusetts Lagoon!
Shark Found in Massachusetts Lagoon!
I’m just going to start it off like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v39XR2v_S3g
Remember that scene?
Well, it was a close call for a local dog on the Vineyard on Veteran’s Day.
According to the Martha’s Vineyard Times, a shark was found swimming in a Massachusetts lagoon, specifically the Vineyard Haven Harbor waters.
Like, shallow, shallow waters.
Jenn Tucker of Islanders Talk, a private Facebook page for Martha’s Vineyard residents, posted video of the beast thrashing near shore.
Amanda “Scotty” Borland was walking her dog and searching for sea glass on Beach Road across from Winds Up around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon when she looked down and saw what she thought was a dolphin, according to the Vineyard Gazette. That’s when she took the video.
“And then, all of a sudden, it whipped back around and this guy was driving over the bridge and he said, ‘I saw the shark coming for you.’ It happened so fast. I honestly couldn’t believe it. It came right up on the shoreline,” she told the Gazette.
According to the report, Hamish is a rescue dog that is a terrier and border collie mix, likes to swim.
“We were walking on the beach. He goes out and gets the rocks,” she told the Times. “Then we were at the end of the beach. I was looking for sea glass. It felt like the shark was a foot away. I walked up to put leash on Hamish and stayed calm and walked away. There was a guy who said, ‘I just drove over the bridge watching the shark going for your dog and I didn’t think you were going to see it’.”
Yikes!
Greg Skomal, a state shark biologist, looked at the video, photos and consulted with a colleague. “We are 100% sure it is a porbeagle,” Skomal told The Times.
Here’s the good news:
Although the porbeagle is related to the much-feared shortfin mako and white shark, it rarely attacks humans. The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) lists two unprovoked attacks by porbeagles off England and Canada, both on divers and both non-fatal, according to the experts.
The shark swam in a circular pattern, occasionally going near the bridge or toward Eastville Beach waters, the Times reporter.
Doug Abdelnour, owner of Nancy’s, was one of the people who rushed over after seeing the Islanders Talk post.
“It’s just unbelievable,” he told the Times. “That’s a little frightening, right there.”
Photos and videos of the animal showed that it appeared to be about eight to 10 feet long, with both a dorsal and tail fin, the Vineyard Gazette reported.
