SeaCat
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Divers find dead 30-foot whale shark near Boca Inlet
By Gretel Sarmiento
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 11, 2007
UPDATED: 6:33 p.m. June 11, 2007
BOCA RATON — There appeared to be something looming in the water when Terry Coburn came up from her dive at the Sea Emperor artificial reef near the Boca Raton Inlet on Sunday morning.
That's when Coburn and 30 other divers discovered a dead 30-foot whale shark.
"Oh, it was so sombering," Coburn said.
After making sure the animal wasn't just sleeping, Coburn, a scuba trainer for Lighthouse Dive in Pompano Beach, got up close while diver Joe Marino, with the South Florida Dive Headquarters, took photographs.
"It was an unfortunate morning," Marino said. "Any diver would rather see something as magnificent as that alive and swimming than dead. There aren't many times as a diver you see something five times your size."
The group contacted different agencies and authorities all day Sunday but got no apparent attention from them, Jeff Torode said. He said the animal didn't appear to be an adult, which can reach 50 feet. The group estimated this one to be 30 feet long.
They found no marks or apparent injuries from boats.
Whale sharks are found worldwide typically in warm tropical waters, and thus this one's death did not draw more attention, said George Burgess, director of the shark research program at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
"Whale sharks are not horribly rare," Burgess said. "There's no compelling reason to try to determine why or how it died."
It is one of only three known filter-feeding shark species that feed on plankton and small vertebrates. And except from their large tail fin, which can accidentally strike swimmers, they do not pose any threat to humans.
The magnitude of the fish could of course fascinate a first-time spectator, Burgess said.
"From that standpoint, there's great interest," he said. "But from the standpoint of obligation, scientifically it's not as high in the order as if you had a dead manatee."
Enric Cortes, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Shark Population Assessment Group in Panama City, said what makes this species unique is its size: "It's the largest fish in the world."
The scientific value of examining the animal would depend on its condition, scientists said.
A DNA sample could have revealed differences in the shark population, and a piece of the backbone could have told the age of the animal for archival purposes, Burgess said. "There's not much more that we can get out of that."
Cat
http://postpix.palmbeachpost.com/pages/photo_page.php?mm=1733192&gallery=317278
http://www://postpix.palmbeachpost.com/pages/photo_page.php?mm=1733193&gallery=317278
By Gretel Sarmiento
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 11, 2007
UPDATED: 6:33 p.m. June 11, 2007
BOCA RATON — There appeared to be something looming in the water when Terry Coburn came up from her dive at the Sea Emperor artificial reef near the Boca Raton Inlet on Sunday morning.
That's when Coburn and 30 other divers discovered a dead 30-foot whale shark.
"Oh, it was so sombering," Coburn said.
After making sure the animal wasn't just sleeping, Coburn, a scuba trainer for Lighthouse Dive in Pompano Beach, got up close while diver Joe Marino, with the South Florida Dive Headquarters, took photographs.
"It was an unfortunate morning," Marino said. "Any diver would rather see something as magnificent as that alive and swimming than dead. There aren't many times as a diver you see something five times your size."
The group contacted different agencies and authorities all day Sunday but got no apparent attention from them, Jeff Torode said. He said the animal didn't appear to be an adult, which can reach 50 feet. The group estimated this one to be 30 feet long.
They found no marks or apparent injuries from boats.
Whale sharks are found worldwide typically in warm tropical waters, and thus this one's death did not draw more attention, said George Burgess, director of the shark research program at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
"Whale sharks are not horribly rare," Burgess said. "There's no compelling reason to try to determine why or how it died."
It is one of only three known filter-feeding shark species that feed on plankton and small vertebrates. And except from their large tail fin, which can accidentally strike swimmers, they do not pose any threat to humans.
The magnitude of the fish could of course fascinate a first-time spectator, Burgess said.
"From that standpoint, there's great interest," he said. "But from the standpoint of obligation, scientifically it's not as high in the order as if you had a dead manatee."
Enric Cortes, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Shark Population Assessment Group in Panama City, said what makes this species unique is its size: "It's the largest fish in the world."
The scientific value of examining the animal would depend on its condition, scientists said.
A DNA sample could have revealed differences in the shark population, and a piece of the backbone could have told the age of the animal for archival purposes, Burgess said. "There's not much more that we can get out of that."
Cat
http://postpix.palmbeachpost.com/pages/photo_page.php?mm=1733192&gallery=317278
http://www://postpix.palmbeachpost.com/pages/photo_page.php?mm=1733193&gallery=317278
