Endangered Shark Species Suddenly Found Dead on Beach

An endangered shark was found dead on a beach in Rhode Island this week, sparking questions about what led to its sudden demise.

The shark, later identified to be a porbeagle, was found by beachgoer Corey Favino on Wednesday. Favino was walking along Watch Hill Beach when he realized there was a dead shark in his path.

"I saw it on the beach and thought, 'Oh, that's something different,'" he said, according to a Thursday report by NBC Connecticut. "I went over to investigate, get a closer look and realized it was a shark."

Porbeagle sharks are found in the north Atlantic Ocean and can reach up to 12 feet long. They are one of the closest living relatives to the formidable great white shark. However, porbeagle sharks are a vulnerable species, and Jon Dodd, executive director of the Atlantic Shark Institute, said they are considered endangered in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.

The dead female shark found on the beach this week was nearly 9 feet long. Some experts wonder if the shark was pregnant, sparking concern as to what could've caused its death. The shark will undergo a necropsy, also known as an animal autopsy, where officials hope to learn more. The necropsy will be conducted at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Narragansett, Rhode Island, The Boston Globe reported.

Dodd told Newsweek that the necropsy is scheduled for late February. He hopes that it will help answer some questions about what caused the shark's death.

"I gave the shark a complete review (externally) and there nothing that stood out as obvious trauma," he said. "There were no hooks present, no cuts or gashes and no puncture wounds. So, the hope is that the necropsy will tell us more. The reason these reviews can take a while is that a good portion of the review requires lab work on tissue, organs...and that can often take additional weeks if nothing is evident internally."

Dodd said the shark was beautiful to see in person, according to the report by The Boston Globe. The possibility that the shark might be pregnant heightened "the value we might be able to extract from an unfortunate situation," Dodd said in NBC Connecticut's report.

"It's really important because when you've got these sharks, particularly in the endangered category and you have one that would appear to be healthy and at a stage when she could actually be pregnant--'Hey, why did this thing die?'" Dodd told NBC Connecticut.

Porbeagle sharks are typically found along the coasts in the United Kingdom. The Wildlife Trusts, an organization comprised of dozens of wildlife trusts, reported that the large shark is usually found in deeper waters. It feeds on smaller fish, like mackerel, whiting and herring, as well as other marine animals, like octopus, squid and cuttlefish.

The shark's population has decreased by as much as 90 percent from its peak, Dodd said.