Providence, Rhode Island’s ABC-6 News reported on June 23 that a 10-foot Great White Shark was captured in a fishing net and hauled aboard a fishing boat June 3rd off the coast of Narragansett, RI. One of the fishermen on-board the boat spoke with an ABC-6 reporter, choosing to remain anonymous, and informed him that the shark was released back into the water, in accordance with federal law. However, the crew also said that the shark seemed “fatigued” after being hauled in. ABC-6 also reports that there were reports that a great white was found washed ashore within a few days after the shark was captured and released.

The implication of the news report was that the captured shark died and washed ashore. The news reporter even goes so far as to say that the reports of the shark washing ashore was “good news” for swimmers, as if to imply that the mere existence of white shark in the water is somehow a threat to swimmers. The fact that the fisherman who spoke to the reporter chose to remain anonymous, makes me wonder if the shark was even alive when it was hauled aboard. Although, the photos available at ABC-6 do clearly show some of the fishermen with the shark, so it doesn’t really seem like anonymity is a big deal to them. The shark doesn’t exactly appear lively in the images. Regardless, reports of a white shark washing ashore days later indicate that the already dwindling numbers of white sharks in the world has decreased, yet again.