The depths of the Atlantic Ocean have given up one of its rarities this past week, alarming beach-goers and exciting marine biologists and paleo-anthropologists.
Daily Star On May 4, Stephanie Hall of Ocean Gate, NJ was on a morning run on Island Beach State Park, located along the coast at about the mid-way point of the Jersey shoreline, when she spot a rather strange looking head from the appearing to look around. “I saw this head of something scary in the sand just over a dune,” said Mrs Hall. “I thought it was bizarre and cool looking so I took some pictures. “Anyway I had no idea what it was and posted it to my town webpage hoping some fishermen could answer."
Daily Star Hall did get responses, with most commentators stating that the six-foot long brown colored fish with white diamond shapes along both ventral sides of its body and along its dorsal side as well, was some species of sturgeon. According to officials from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection agency sourced by the Daily Star, sturgeon have been around since the Triassic period, which dates back to 245 million years ago. The current fossil record for sturgeons indicates that the species has undergone little evolutionary change for the last 65 million years, which would be the Upper Cretaceous period. They have been referred to as ’living fossils'.
Daily Star The species can reportedly grow to approximately 14 feet long and can weigh up to 800 pounds and can live for six decades. Larry Hanja of NJDEP commented that the creature found by Hall is most likely either a variant of either the Atlantic or the shortnose sturgeon, both of which are endangered. “Sturgeon washing up on a beach is pretty rare because sturgeon are pretty rare,” he told local media. “They really are unique creatures, almost like relics of the age of dinosaurs. We focus a lot of monitoring efforts on sturgeon in Delaware Bay, where both species were once prolific.” Hall was quoted as saying, “It’s apparently a rare find. The local wildlife people removed the fish and are now studying it. “I think because it’s rare to see around here and because they consider them endangered. “I’m just so glad I stopped and took pictures.” It’s earned them a status as “living fossils”. The Daily Star writes that the “International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says 85% of sturgeon types are at risk of extinction, with many threatened by overfishing.”
