MyFoxPhilly.com is reporting that a story about a blue shark “beaching itself” on a New Jersey beach is the result of a fisherman reeling the hooked shark onto the beach. CBS3.com has a different take on the story quoting Melissa Nick of the Seaside Park Beach Patrol as explaining, “a fisherman caught a fish, was reeling it in and the shark chased after the fish.”

The “fish story” has made the rounds among various media outlets with headlines such as "Beached Shark Terrifies Swimmers", "New Jersey Shark Sighting: Sand Shark Causes Panic (which misidentifies the species), and "Another shark scare in New Jersey." Seaside Beach was reportedly closed after the sighting according to NBCNewYork.com.

The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is generally considered harmless toward humans and has a diet that consists primarily of squid, crustaceans, and bony fish. Blue sharks are typically found in deep water, but it is not unheard for them to be found close to shore.