NAVARRE, Fla — The presumed pregnant great white shark that was found dead after washing ashore Friday morning on the Florida Panhandle was not pregnant, a NOAA official told a media outlet.
Over the weekend, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collected blood samples of the shark and conducted a necropsy, according to WEAR News 3.
They learned the female shark was about 30 years old, just over 15 feet long and too immature to bear children, according to the news article.
"Age at maturity is around 33 years for white sharks," NOAA official Heather Moncrief-Cox told WEAR News 3. "Based on the lack of development of her oocytes, it would have been another year or two before she would have even been capable of becoming pregnant."
The Navarre Beach Fire Rescue posted pictures on Facebook Friday morning of the deceased 1,500-pound shark lying on the shore. Crews were there to assist in removing it, Navarre Beach Fire District Fire Chief Danny Fureigh told Pensacola News Journal. They estimated it to be 13-15 feet long.
Other news outlets captured the scene on video of local officials gathering around the body, preparing to remove it from the sand, according to WKRG News 5.
The shark’s cause of death is still unknown.
“A fishing hook was embedded in her jaw, so post-release mortality is one possibility," Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center said in a Facebook post.
