A great white shark measuring about 18-feet long is believed to have been swimming off the coast of Washington state and feeding on harbor seals near the shore.
On Thursday, a seal was found on a beach close to Ocean Shores, bitten cleanly in half. A necropsy performed with a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shark expert confirmed the most likely predator was a great white shark, according to the News Tribune.
The seal that was found last week with missing hindquarters was a female weighing over 200 pounds. The seal’s stomach was filled with smelt, which indicates it was attacked near the shore.
Great white sharks do appear off the coast of Washington state, although they rarely come near shore. It’s believed this shark followed a warm current.
Police have advised people to stay out of the water, mostly due to dangerous rip tides in the area.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– Craig Bartlett” author_title=”Department of Fish and Wildlife”]
I would stay out of the water for awhile. And we’re contacting local and tribal governments today to let them know what we’ve found.
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The tourist town of Ocean Shores has a sense of humor about great white sharks, with a tourist shop where you pass through the jaws of one of the sharks, KATU reported.
Another seal found dead last week near the town was also examined, but it was determined to have died after becoming entangled in a fishing net. The seal did not have bite marks, KIROTV reported.
Just two shark attacks on humans have been documented in the state: one in the 1930s and another in 1989. Neither attack was fatal.
