A disconcerting discovery was made along a North Carolina beach, leaving residents both puzzled and alarmed. An enigmatic creature, featuring needle-like teeth and hollow eyes, mysteriously washed ashore, sparking curiosity and concern among the local community.
During a visit to Kelly Wosahla’s residence on Hatteras Island, Lynsie McKeown from Charlottesville, Virginia, encountered the strange find on April 30. McKeown, who was in the Outer Banks seeking a peaceful escape and a chance to ‘reset,’ had just arrived at Wosahla’s beachside home.
“After the long drive, I was eager to head outside,” McKeown shared with the Daily Mail. “I just wanted to take a walk on the beach to unwind.”
Her stroll quickly turned eventful when she noticed an unusual ‘dark mass’ stretched out along the sandy shoreline. Intrigued by the peculiar sight, McKeown ventured closer and captured the unsettling creature on video.
That was when she spotted a bizarre ‘dark mass’ sprawled along the shoreline.
Curiosity got the best of McKeown, who took a closer look at the creature and recorded the scary creature on video.
McKeown told the Daily Mail that the creature looked to be around 5–foot–9, with its mouth hung open and its sharp teeth fully exposed.
A stick was poking directly out of one of the animal’s eyes, her footage showed.
Lynsie McKeown, of Charlottesville, Virginia, found the sea creature while she was vacationing on North Carolina’s Outer Banks
McKeown told the Daily Mail that she immediately knew the creature was a shark because of its teeth.
However, she did not immediately know what type of shark she had sighted on the beach.
Her unusual video was posted by Wosahla on Facebook on Monday, prompting all sorts of guesses from locals.
‘By the looks of the tailfin Small thrasher shark,’ one commenter said.
‘Goblin Shark,’ another user posted. ‘Rare, deep–sea species of shark.’
Another kept his guess more simple: ‘Looks like a shark with bad teeth.’
In the end, the North Carolina Shark Conservancy (NCSC) told the Daily Mail that the mysterious dead creature had been identified as a sand tiger shark.
The shark was identified through its tooth structure, though it was ‘very difficult’ to know how it died because of how its extreme decomposition.
‘There was evidence of some sort of fishing interaction with the presence of fishing line, but it’s impossible to determine whether that was a contributing factor,’ the NCSC added.
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The creature had a stick poking out of its eye, which conservation officials later said had likely been placed there by a beach-goer
McKeown told the Daily Mail that the dead animal, which she captured footage of, looked to be about 5-foot-9
The North Carolina Shark Conservancy confirmed the creature was a sand tiger shark and that other types of sharks had also been sighted along the state’s east coast (Photo of Salvo)
The stick was likely jabbed into the shark’s eye by a beach–goer who saw the creature, the agency added.
However, that could not be confirmed and an animal autopsy would be unable to obtain ‘much valuable information.’
Shark strandings are not considered uncommon in North Carolina, and there have been other types reported along the state’s east coast.
Those include angel sharks, sand bars, common threshers and both smooth and spiny dogfish, the agency said.
The NCSC noted that North Carolina was one of the ‘sharkiest’ areas in that part of the US.
There was ‘generally speaking’ no cause for concern whenever one washes ashore.
Still, there have been 80 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks since 1837 in the state, the Wilmington Star–News reported.
Sand tiger sharks, known for their needle–like jagged teeth, can swim down to more than 650 feet below water, according to NOAA.
They can reach up to about 10.5 feet in length.
