Head of hammerhead shark found off Alki Beach (SEATTLE)

KING5 News ^ | 2-8-11 | GARY CHITTIM

[Zeppo]

I may be misremembering, but didn’t I hear that a dead cow washed up on a beach near there recently?

:-)

[Miles the Slasher]

Seems almost unthinkable that a hammerhead would be found this far north. I wonder if there isn’t another explanation... like the head got thrown in the water down at the Pike Place market. One of those fish markets probably features hammerhead shark, I’ll bet?

If finding hammerhead heads means they are serving up hammerhead sharks...I hate to thing what finding severed feet means at the Pike Place market!

[NavyCanDo]

There have been sightings of Great Whites this far north though very rare. Probably following the California Sea Lions up here when they feed on our returning salmon. I suppose if it’s possible for a Great White it is possible for the Smooth Hammerhead, if that is indeed the species.

Thanks for your knowledge on the subject.

[Ramius]

LOL... Yah... maybe we should avoid the BBQ ribs special for a while. :-)

[Capt. Tom]

I suppose if it’s possible for a Great White it is possible for the Smooth Hammerhead, if that is indeed the species.

You are definitely in the range of a White. They are few in numbers and that is why a sighting is so unusual; not because they are out of their range.

The hammerhead is definitely out of its range. - tom

[NavyCanDo]

The news report is stretching it a bit then if they are saying it is from the tropics, when it could be in fact from the California Coast. Still it could be the first for Puget Sound. Wish I found it. All I find on Alki is booze bottles, an occasional washed up Sun Starfish, and once I found some false teeth. Heck, I'd settle for finding the dead cow.

[Rappini]

Maybe the muslims are practicing.

[Capt. Tom]

The news report is stretching it a bit then if they are saying it is from the tropics, when it could be in fact from the California Coast.

When the press covers sharks, shark sightings, shark attacks the articles are written by clueless people who often mis quote experts on the subject. To make it worse they inject their own unfounded opinions into the article.- Tom

[NavyCanDo]

I'll have to see where this one goes. My friend is still excited by his son's discovery. And I still say, dang why couldn't it have been me. I'm on that area of Alki allot.

[Amberdawn]

There was a 17+ foot Great White that was caught in a net off Vancouver in the early 80’s. You may be able to google the picture-It shows it being hauled aboard a flatbed inside the net. Female I believe.

[Defiant]

Maybe something larger is off-shore and looking for a balanced diet.

Next week, chicken?

[spetznaz]

I can see how that can make one mad.

[JRios1968]

Perhaps the hammerhead shark got into a religious argument with the vicious allahu akbar shark and ended up losing the debate.

[Hatteras]

WoW! They just had a dead cow or something wash up a week ago, right?

[Ditter]

A sharks head washing up doesn’t interest me as much as the feet that were found in the area. Are they still finding feet or have they solved that mystery?

[NavyCanDo]

Yea they still find feet, the last one was about two months ago if I remember. The feet (shoes with feet in them) would be the last of the human remains because the crabs can’t get to them - so they would be the most likely part of the body to wash up. So I don’t think whoever is killing these people are sawing off feet. The real question is who are these people and how did they die. Several people die on Puget Sound each year in accidents and their bodies never found in the deep deep frigid cold waters. So most of these feet could be accident victims for all they know.

[Jonah Hex]

WoW! They just had a dead cow or something wash up a week ago, right?

"There's many a strange creature in the sea, shipmate."

[Ditter]

The feet with shoes still on them is creepy. Can they tell how long they have been in the water? I don’t know how the currents runs there so which direction are they coming from?

[NavyCanDo]

The current ebs and flows with the tides so there is no clear direction where they came from, and the Puget Sound has over 1,330 miles of shoreline, so who knows where the victims alive or dead entered the water. The water is so cold though and very deep 500 feet and more, so that if it were not for the crabs eating them bodies would be very slow to decompose. Washington also has more personal watercraft per capita than any other state, and many smaller boat accidents result in bodies not recovered.

Yea, it is creepy, but I lean to the theory that most (not all) are accident victims and not some diabolical butcher throwing feet in the water.

[NavyCanDo]

Of course on Puget Sound there are plenty of BIG Mouths with BIG Sharp teeth capable of doing the job nicely, leaving just a little leg bone to pick their teeth with.

Look at this fisheman’s Video taken on Puget Sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-wSqBIsZvg