SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — The carcass of a 21-foot-long adult whale shark washed up on Sanibel Island, Florida, on Sunday morning.
Biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission were on their way to where the carcass was rolling in the surf to collect samples.
"I'm sure they were going to try to determine a cause of death," said Brian Norris, an FWC spokesman.
Marine biologists from the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum were on the beach where the shark came ashore.
The shark’s cause of death was not immediately known, but Shell Museum marine biologist Rebecca Mensch said the shark showed little signs of decay and likely died Saturday night or Sunday morning.
The shore where the shark was found is littered with dead fish as well, causing many to speculate that red tide may have been the cause of the animal's death. A red tideis an increase in concentration of the microscopic algae K. brevis, which releases toxic chemicals that kill marine organisms and can turn the water red.
"The research is still ongoing whether or not these animals are susceptible to red tide or, if they are, how sensitive are they," Mensch said. "So, that's not something one way or the other that you can say it was red tide."
A tissue sample and toxicology test that can take anywhere from days to weeks to provide results might give the biologists answers as to whether red tide affected the shark, she said.
The museum has been working with Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota, Fla., to determine if the shark was one of the animals Mote tracks. But when a team of three marine biologists looked over the shark for tagging, it did not appear to be one of Mote’s sharks.
A dead whale shark washed up on a Sanibel beach on Sunday morning. It was discovered off of West Gulf Drive at about 7:30 a.m. A tissue sample was taken, where it will be sent off to a lab for testing. Officials are letting nature take its course as far as removal of the huge shark. (Photo: Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press)
The shark drew a crowd of dozens of beachgoers, many of whom were snapping pictures and taking video, in awe of the giant animal.
"You’ve been to like aquariums and stuff and you’re like ‘This is the wildlife’ but seeing it up close and in nature it’s shocking," said Lily Miller, a 16-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio, who was visiting Sanibel for the first time with her family. "Especially seeing a huge dead shark. It breaks my heart and it’s not something you ever expect to see, especially when you’re out in the (gulf)."
While whale sharks aren't something you might expect to see on Southwest Florida beaches, they are actually quite common on the other side of the coast, near Cozumel, Mexico, where they are currently mating, Mensch said.
“This part of the Gulf of Mexico stays shallow really, really far — about 100 miles — so this really, really shallow water is not a normal place you expect a huge animal like this to be in," she said.
Keil picklesimer, an employee of the Island Inn Sanibel and Rebecca Mensch, a marine biologist with Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum takes a tissue sample for Mote Marine Laboratories of a dead whale shark that washed up on a Sanibel beach on Sunday morning. It was discovered off of West Gulf Drive at about 7:30 a.m. (Photo: Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press)
Mensch added that it's hard to tell where the shark was when it was last healthy, because strong currents and wind could have carried it to Sanibel's shore.
The plan is to let the shark decay naturally in the Gulf, Mensch said, warning beachgoers to steer clear of the animal.
A dead whale shark washed up on a Sanibel beach on Sunday morning. It was discovered off of West Gulf Drive at about 7:30 a.m. A tissue sample was taken, where it will be sent off to a lab for testing. Officials are letting nature take its course as far as removal of the huge shark. Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press
A dead whale shark washed up on a Sanibel beach on Sunday morning. It was discovered off of West Gulf Drive at about 7:30 a.m. A tissue sample was taken, where it will be sent off to a lab for testing. Officials are letting nature take its course as far as removal of the huge shark.
The tides and waves can easily create an environment where one can slip and fall under the shark, which likely weighs thousands of pounds, she said.
Scavengers that will be attracted to the shark's carcass as it decays are another danger, Mensch said. With varying scents and murky water on a wavy day, a scavenger wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a person's foot and the shark's flipper.
According to the University of Florida, whale sharks can surpass 40 feet long. They are the largest fish in the sea, but they are harmless to humans. Some even let divers hold their fin and swim with them.
Whale sharks typically range from blue-gray to brown colored with white spots in between pale vertical and horizontal stripes. As filter feeders, they tend to swim near the surface where they can feed on a variety of organisms like plankton, crustaceans and tuna.
Gina Young, who comes to Sanibel every year from Alabama, said the shark was "gigantic" and it was "sad but amazing to see the shark in person."
