A 12-foot great white shark that washed up on a Massachusetts beach this week had to be towed away by a tow truck, graphic photos have revealed.
orléans police station shared photos Photos of a bloodied and battered shark lying on its side with its jaws wide open in the bed of a recovery tow truck after shore patrol discovered the 1,240-pound fish on Cape Cod's Nauset Beach Tuesday morning.
“This is not our typical call service, nor is it a tow vehicle for our local missions,” the department said in a Facebook post.
“But, as always, we answered the call. You never know what calls you'll be answering on any given shift.”
Dennis Reed, owner of Nauset Recovery, was tasked with transporting the carcass to the Orléans Transfer Station, where the Atlantic Great White Shark Conservancy conducted a necropsy. The Cape Cod Times reported.
He said the shark's mouth was covered in blood, but its fins were still intact.
“There were no bite marks or anything,” Reed told the publication.
“There was a lot of blood flowing around the mouth, so it looked like there was a lot of internal bleeding.”
The Conservancy Confirmed by Facebook post Wednesday's dead shark was an adult male predator previously identified in 2022 and named a koala.
The group said it was not yet known how the shark died.
“There is no clear indication as to how or why the koala died. Further tests are needed to determine the cause of death,” the group posted.
“The death of the great white shark is so sad that samples such as organs, tissues and vertebrate sections are being used to further our knowledge of this species.”
