Slain great whites may have vomited up man's hands after being caught, says Fisheries…
The two great whites pulled out of the crystal-clear waters of Esperance, Western Australia, just hours after the attack on surfer Sean Pollard have been examined, and, well…
“We are unable to confirm whether either shark was involved in the incident,” Department of Fisheries’ principal shark scientist Dr Rory McAuley said.
Dr McAuley said while the results were inconclusive, it was not uncommon for sharks to disgorge their stomach contents when they were caught. “Jaw measurements will also help with future bite investigations. The first white shark caught is 3.46 metres long; the second white shark is 2.68 metres in length.”
The thief dropped the jewels after the robbery, m’lud! Guilty as charged!
Dr McAuley says his team of scientists gathered sections of each shark’s vertebrae, which will assist in further research. He also said that while bite marks left on Sean’s board did not match either of the sharks, “Indications are that a white shark was responsible for the injuries he received.”
He did not mention who gets to keep the jaws of either shark.
A local fishing boat operator, who asked not to be identified, told BeachGrit there was a fairly obvious connection between the migratory pattern of whales and an influx of big sharks.
“It happens every year, but, you’d have to say it seems to be worse this year. I saw one that must have been six meters a couple weeks ago” he, or she, said. “And the scary thing is, the whale season’s kinda only kicking off, still got a couple months to go.”
The operator said no one in the town was overjoyed that two sharks had been killed, everyone was happy there were two less big sharks in the water. He, or she, also said the speed in which the sharks were caught had more to do with where the Department of Fisheries boat was moored as anything else. “It’s moored at Bandy Creek which is only five k’s from where the attack happened. They were good to go and got out and got the job done. I’d love to know how they got the big one in though. The boat’s only six metres and one of the sharks was four metres.
He, or she, also thought the phrase “Humanely destroyed” put forward by authorities at the time, meant only one thing.
“Bullet to the head. For sure.”