PACIFIC GROVE, Calif.- A rare shark washed up on Asilomar State Beach Thursday in Pacific Grove, according to the Standford-Hopkins Marine Station.
The eight or nine foot creature lives in deep waters, dines on giant squid and can grow to lengths of more than 20 feet, said Sean Van Sommeran from the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz.
Sommeran, executive director at the research foundation, says "It appears to be a decomposed Pacific sleeper shark a relatively rare, not well-studied species." Sommeran said,"it looks like it may have been bitten by another shark or some other predator, and from the photo I'd say it doesn't look very fresh."
The carcass has extensive damage to the body and is missing a dorsal fin and most of its mouth area.
A state game warden, who examined the shark, said some of its injuries appeared to be even cuts, probably inflicted by humans, as opposed to damage from other sea predators.
Still, Sommeran with the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation does not believe humans are the reason for the shark's injuries, even though the picture depicts the shark's complete set of teeth missing. He says that happens often when a shark dies and is left out floating in the ocean for quite some time, from other creatures feasting on it.
The Pacific sleeper shark has been seen at more than 2,000 feet below the surface.
Another 10-foot sleeper shark washed up on a beach near Monterey Harbor in 1999, Van Sommeran said, and a 15-footer was found on a beach in Santa Cruz in June 2006.
Standford-Hopkins Marine Station
