Neighbor Found Injured Shark Washed Up On Brighton Beach Shore

Early Friday morning, a neighbor discovered this shark washed up on the shores of Brighton Beach on May 12. The shark was about 3 feet long and injured, she said.

So far, we have been unable to officially confirm this sighting. Police officials, the Parks Department, and marine life environmental groups we contacted had no reports of the shark from this weekend.

Though the beach isn’t yet open for swimming, and this sighting happened around 6:15am — did anyone else see this injured marine creature in Brighton Beach this past weekend?

This isn’t the first time beachgoers found large, injured large marine life on the shores. In 2015, a partially decapitated Humpback Whale washed up on the Brighton shores.

Last July, beachgoers were shooed out of the water after Basking Shark fins were spotted slicing through the surf, just a month after anglers hauled more than a dozen toothy trophies at Sheepshead Bay’s annual shark fishing tournament.

Update 5/16: We heard back from the Department of Environmental Conservation, who was also not contacted regarding the shark. “This a smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis),” said Rodney Rivera of the DEC. “These sharks can reach up to 5 feet in length (max) and are harmless to humans. This species is abundant in NY waters. Judging by the condition of its gills, it looks to have been caught in a gillnet and likely discarded leaving it in the disposition of the photo.”