Crew members catch a
nurse shark and kill it
PHILIPSBURG--Crewmembers of boat Trixdemar Guiria, docked at Bobby’s Marina, caught a more-than-five-foot-long male sand shark around 10:00pm Monday.
While some people expressed concern that this catch suggests the Great Bay waters are unsafe for swimming, Nature Foundation’s Assistant Marine Park Manager Paul Ellinger said this species of shark was “a tame and docile animal.”
He found the “senseless killing” of the shark deeply saddening and said this was not the work of “true fishermen.” The shark is a nurse shark and is scientifically called “Ginglymostoma Cirratum.”
Ellinger said it was a very tame shark, was no danger to humans and usually could be found in water with depths of 12-100 feet. It is often called a sand shark because it lives or stays on sandy bottoms. It is usually between five and nine feet, but can grow to a maximum of 14 feet, depending on its age.
He said, “Its behavioural pattern is that it lies motionless on the bottom unless molested.”
The crew members said they had been on the boat Monday night when they spotted two of the sharks and decided to catch them. They used a rope with a thick piece of wire attached to one end and a quarter pound of chicken as bait.
One of the sharks escaped and the other was caught and killed.
St Maarten vacation rental
