Sad twist after great white shark washed up on beach
An investigation is underway to determine the shark's cause of death.
A great white shark has washed up on a beach and local authorities are scrambling to understand what happened to the four and a half metre creature.
Fire and Rescue officials in Florida, US made the discovery on Friday and crews used tie down straps to harness the 680 kilogram shark and pull it up Navarre beach.
Over the weekend local media misreported that the female shark was pregnant, however something else has since been found inside the creature after a necropsy — a surgical examination — was carried out.
"The necropsy revealed a fishing hook embedded in her jaw, raising the possibility of post-release mortality," Brantly Keiek from news outlet WGNO ABC wrote online.
Despite the impressive size of the shark it was deemed "immature" at aged 30, verging close to maturity. Great white sharks can grow up to six metres in length and weigh 3,000 kilograms, according to the Australian Museum — with females growing larger than males.
A full pathology report is being conducted to determine the shark's cause of death.
Great white accidentally caught by Aussie fishermen
Last week three fishermen accidentally caught a great white in a sardine net off the Australian coast while fishing for pilchards. After pulling the net to their boat they made the realisation and quickly began to lift the net, allowing the shark to roll back into the ocean.
According to Florida Museum — the leading authority of shark recordings — there have been only 702 unprovoked shark attacks in Australia over the last three hundred years, with the vast majority of Aussies who encounter great white shark having no issues.
At the start of the year a Perth fisherman captured footage of a four metre great white shark circling his boat and in October a fisherwoman had her 102 kilogram tuna chomped by one of the sharks.
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