[imagesource: News24 / Supplied by East London Museum]

Scientists along our eastern coastline are baffled by the stranding of 44 bronze whaler sharks between East London and Jeffreys Bay since late March.

In the latest incident, on Saturday at Winterstrand in East London, a pregnant bronze whaler with 11 pups inside her was stranded.

Before you consider blaming those notorious orcas, Port and Starboard, researchers who have inspected the bodies have found “no injuries or any signs of physical trauma”.

According to East London Museum scientist Kevin Cole, who spoke with News24, the strandings also don’t appear to be linked to recreational fishing or predation:

The record shows that whatever the cause of death, it seems to be quite species-specific, mostly to the bronze whalers (Carcharhinus brachyurus).

Image: News24 / Supplied by East London Museum

“There have also been two reports in our area of erratic shark behaviour close to river mouths before the strandings, and in one instance filmed at the Balugha River mouth. None of the strandings which I have investigated have shown any signs of physical trauma to the animals such as bite marks or any other,” added Cole.

He went on to call this “one of the most baffling fish challenges to present itself in a long while”.

If you come across a stranded shark, retired marine biologist Dr Malcolm Smale warns against touching it, saying you should rather alert authorities.

The Bayworld and East London museums are the best places to start.

“We are not sure of the cause, but it would be unwise to eat the sharks in case they have some kind of toxin in their bodies. I am sure that more information and advice will come out once the cause is established.”

Smale called the strandings “very unusual” and said he had never seen anything like it during his 40 years of working in the area.

If the experts can’t figure it out, there’s little use in us having a guess.

[source:news24]