NIANTIC, Conn. (WFSB) – A fisherman spotted what appears to be a hammerhead shark in Long Island Sound near Niantic on Monday.
Josh Enman has fished Long Island Sound his whole life. Monday’s sighting was a first for him.
“I looked right out the side of the boat, and I’m looking at Rocky Neck Beach. Right in front of my boat are the red and green cans from Hatchett Reef,” Enman said.
Debbie Sayer, a marine science educator at Project Oceanology, said hammerhead sharks are uncommon in the area.
“They’re pretty uncommon,” Sayer said.
Sayer said the shark was likely following food.
“They’re pretty cosmopolitan. Temperate waters. I think the smooth ones prefer shallower water but we haven’t seen them at the surface where people are viewing them very often,” Sayer said.
Sayer said this was likely a smooth hammerhead shark, which occasionally makes its way to the area.
Brown sharks have also been seen throughout the sound this year, also chasing food. Like the hammerheads, they are not after humans.
Enman described an encounter with a shark near his boat.
“It swarm around to the front of my boat. It kind of tail slapped the boat, then dove straight down fast,” Enman said.
“I’d never seen a shark that size out there. Everyone has seen dogfish and sand sharks and stuff like that but I’ve never seen anything of that size out there,” Enman said.
Dolphins are being spotted more often in the sound as well. Sayer said changes in food patterns could explain the increased sightings.
“We might be seeing things like a change in the food. We had a pretty cold winter with a slow warm up so it’s possible they are chasing food in at a different time of year than we expect,” Sayer said.
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