A fisherman caught an unusual shark off RI. Now researchers ask if more are moving here.

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

A fisherman caught an unusual shark off RI. Now researchers ask if more are moving here.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – A young shark whose species is normally found in southern waters has raised questions for researchers after its discovery off Charlestown in September of 2024.

The 24-inch

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

had a partially healed umbilical cord, indicating that it was less than a year old. Could it have been born nearby? Did the youngster make a long trek north into Rhode Island waters?

Spinner sharks are common in waters off the southeastern United States coast but have rarely been seen near Southern New England, according to Jon Dodd, executive director of the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

The spinner shark was measured, videotaped and returned to the water.

Joshua Moyer, resident research scientist at the institute and a lecturer at Yale University, said, “According to the literature, most documented nursery habitat for spinners range from the Carolinas to Florida. But here we have a small shark with a partially healed umbilical wound, supporting its designation as a young-of-the-year shark, in Rhode Island.”

Was it a ‘rare stray’ or born nearby?

Still, the researchers say it’s too soon to determine whether the shark was “a rare stray,” or the nursery habitat for spinner sharks is shifting northward because of warming waters caused by climate change. “A single shark does not constitute proof of a nursery,” Dodd said in a press release.

The young shark’s presence in Rhode Island led to the publication of a paper in the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. It was written by Moyer, Dodd and Stephen Kajiura, a professor at Florida Atlantic University and member of the Atlantic Shark Institute’s research advisory board.

“The most fascinating thing about the paper is the size of the spinner shark,” Dodd said. “With a range that focuses on the southern U.S., a mom giving birth here in Rhode Island is unique and opens up a range of questions.”

“Our oceans are changing, known habitats are changing, and what we knew to be the case only 10 years ago may no longer be accurate,” Dodd said. “That is both exciting and disconcerting.”

Most of the world’s oceans have seen a temperature rise, an average rate of 0.14°F per decade from 1901 through 2023, according to the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. However, sea surface temperatures have cooled in some areas, including parts of the North Atlantic, according to the EPA.

The spinner shark was caught by Capt. Carl Granquist on Sept. 1, 2024, while he was fishing on the Estrella Domar “just south” of Charlestown, according to Dodd. Granquist wasn’t sure of the species, but he and his mate, Bryce Biggs, measured it and took video of it before returning it to the water, Dodd said. Granquist sent the video to the Atlantic Shark Institute.

“Less than an hour after he (Granquist) released the shark, I received the video, and I was reallysurprised at the size and potential species of the shark,” Dodd said. “I knew it was one of two species of shark and either one would be a pretty unique find here in Rhode Island waters, particularly at only 24 inches in length.”

While spinner sharks closely resemble

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, Dodd, Moyer and Kajiura ultimately concluded it was a spinner shark. In 2020, Dodd was also surprised when he spotted a blacktip shark in Rhode Island waters. They also typically live in southern waters.

Spinner sharks live up to their name

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

describes spinner sharks as “a slender, gray-bronze shark named for its distinctive aerial ‘spinning’ behavior at the surface.”

“When feeding, spinner sharks will often swim through schools of bait fish, spinning along their longitudinal axis, snapping at fish as they move through the water toward the surface,” the museum says. “When they breach the surface, they can be seen spinning in the air – sometimes as much as 20 feet above the water surface.”

Spinner sharks grow to an average of about 6.4 feet and have been blamed for 16 unprovoked attacks on humans, although none have been fatal, according to the museum’s

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Their “teeth are adapted for seizing small prey rather than tearing at large prey and therefore usually result in relatively minor injuries,” according to the museum.

Though unusual, it’s not the first time spinner sharks have been detected in Southern New England.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

since the tags send signals when the sharks pass close to acoustic receivers along the East Coast.

Since they were tagged, those spinner sharks have been detected more than 75 times along the East Coast, according to Kimmie Lavoie, a research analyst at the Atlantic Shark Institute.

“Interestingly, we have had no detections further north than North Carolina,” Dodd said. “These sharks love warmer water and more moderate temperatures. A couple have visited Florida, but their home base has been North Carolina.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal:

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#fisherman #caught #unusual #shark #researchers #moving

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up