"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

16 August 2010

Dispatches from the field

From my sister ...

Monday, August 16, 2010 6:10 PM
Subject: Sand Tiger at False Cape


Went into work today expecting a quiet day because I WAS suppose to dive, but the trip was called. A day of paperwork really….until I got a call. The Stranding Center got a call about a shark on the beach. My day was hot, sweaty (I think I lost 15lbs in water), stinky, full of giant flies that could carry off a small child, and a total blast.

This female shark stranded with a circular Frisbee around its neck…amazing. She had a septic ovary and a really nasty bladder so I think she was already sick when she got tangled in the frisbee. She must have come close to shore to get easy food….her gut was full of spot and menhaden. She probably swam or nudged the frisbee in the water and it went on her neck. It wasn’t on her long and she definitely would not have been able to get it off without breaking her jaws. She probably tried to get it off in the shallows by rubbing on the bottom. In the tough surf over the last few days probably got washed up and floundered. No matter how it happened, the frisbee probably didn’t actually kill her but it didn’t prevent it either.

B



Necropsy

Removing the liver


Thanks Buff .. be careful.

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