A deep-water shark washed ashore along the coastline of Garcia Hernandez on Sunday morning.

The 10-feet, 200-kilo fish, which was identified by the town’s Municipal Agriculture Office as a cow shark, or a bluntnose sixgill shark, died a few hours after it was found by residents in Barangay West Canayaon at 9 a.m.

The shark which had no visible wounds was immediately buried.

Authorities could not identify the cause of its death.

According to Alesha Ochavillo of the MAO, it was the first time that a cow shark was beached in Garcia Hernandez’ coast or even sighted in waters off the town in recent times.

She said that residents in the village including fishermen mostly encounter only whale sharks in the area.

Sharks are sometimes seen in waters off Garcia Hernandez due to the depth of the Bohol Sea, otherwise known as the Mindanao Sea, which separates the province from Mindanao, added Ochavillo.

According to the Fisheries and Oceans Canada, frequently referred to as Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the bluntnose sixgill shark is the largest predatory shark regularly encountered in Canada’s Pacific waters.

“It is primarily a deepwater species found in waters below 91 meters. The species is mostly found over the outer continental and insular shelves,” it said. (AD)