12-Foot Great White Shark Washes Up on Cape Cod Beach
A 12-foot great white shark, known as Koala, washed up on Nauset Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, earlier this week, prompting an unusual call to local police.
The Orleans Police Department shared on Facebook that this was far from a typical day for them—or for Nauset Recovery, the local tow truck company enlisted to remove the giant predator.
“You really never know what kind of call you’ll respond to on any given shift,” the police said, adding, “At least Sgt Elliott only needed to follow the tow truck and didn’t have to wrestle an unruly great white.”
The shark, first identified by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy in 2022, was a mature male, measuring just over 12 feet long. There were no obvious signs of trauma, and the cause of death remains unknown. A necropsy was performed on October 16th, and further tests are underway to determine what led to the shark's death.
Shark expert Chip Michalove, who runs Outcast Sport Fishing, weighed in on the possible causes, suggesting that Koala may have gotten stranded on the beach while chasing a seal or suffered trauma from a hook.
"The corner of the jaw—there is some trauma there," Michalove explained, though it's unclear whether it was caused by a hook or from the shark getting stuck in the sand.
Michalove also highlighted the conservation efforts that have led to an increase in the great white shark population in the Atlantic over the past few decades.
"The good news is that this species is extremely healthy," he said. "There’s a lot more now than there was 30 years ago. It’s terrible to lose one of this size, but there is a lot of them on this beach particularly."
Cape Cod, a popular summer destination, is also a known feeding ground for great white sharks. While shark sightings have become more common, fatal attacks on humans are rare. The last deadly shark bite in the area occurred in 2018, when a 26-year-old man tragically lost his life.
