Rare opportunity: 9-foot porbeagle shark found on East Beach; researchers plan necropsy

An endangered porbeagle shark was found dead Wednesday on East Beach in Watch Hill, and researchers are hoping to find out why she died.

The shark, nearly 9 feet long and weighing several hundred pounds, was taken off the beach, and a necropsy is planned, according to Jon Dodd, executive director of the Atlantic Shark Institute in Wakefield.

The shark had no visible wounds to provide clues about why she died, Dodd said. While the shark's death is "unfortunate," he said, the necropsy will provide researchers "a rare opportunity" to learn more about the species and possibly explain why she died.

Was the shark pregnant?

"A necropsy on a female porbeagle shark of this size can be of real value," Dodd said via email. "You simply don’t run into that combination of size and sex often. Based on her size and the time of year, she could also be pregnant, which could be of significant value."

Porbeagle sharks, which resemble great white sharks, aren't uncommon in Rhode Island waters, even during the winter, according to Dodd.

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“The porbeagle is much less known than their close relatives the white shark and the mako, butit’s a gorgeous and formidable shark that is truly New England’s year-round bruiser,” Dodd said.

"These large sharks really like the colder water, so when everyone else has headed south for the winter, they are still here enjoying these waters with much less pressure from competing shark species," Dodd said in a Facebook post.

"It’s an interesting find because during the winter, when sharks are stranded, they are often sharks that prefer warmer waters and they get caught in water temperatures they simply can’t function in," Dodd said via email. "Here we have a large, mature porbeagle who thrives in these colder waters. So, it makes the necropsy all the more interesting."

Beachgoers helped get the big shark off the sand

Getting her off the beach was "quite the ordeal," Dodd said, and included help from Dodd's wife, Joan, and volunteers who happened to be in the area.

Narragansett resident Corey Favino first spotted the shark and contacted the Mystic Aquarium, which then contacted the Atlantic Shark Institute, Dodd said.

"We headed off as soon as we got the notification based on our concern that high tide would pull the shark back into the ocean," he said.

The shark was about 500 yards down the beach from the Ocean House, according to Dodd, and had to be moved the same distance across the sand to Dodd's truck.

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"We were very lucky to have a gentleman with a beach pass come by with a jeep," Dodd said. Dodd asked the man, Peter Lundstedt, of Stonington, Connecticut, "if he’d be willing to tow the shark up the beach, and he was happy to assist," Dodd said. With help from Westerly resident Robert Hollis, the shark was wrapped in a tarp and dragged by the tail to Dodd's truck.

"A few minutes later and good teamwork between Peter, Robert, my wife Joan and I, and the shark was secure," he said.

It was taken to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration laboratory in Narragansett for its necropsy.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Dead Porbeagle shark washes ashore on East Beach in Watch Hill