A BEACH stroll took an unexpected turn for a Limestone Coast man earlier this week after stumbling across a deceased sawshark on the Port MacDonnell coast.
The specimen is believed to be a southern sawshark, which have been found in deep waters by professional fishing operators off the coast.
However, following a night of big seas, Clem Smith found the distinct sawshark a long way from its usual home deep under sea level – washed up around 100 metres from the Port MacDonnell jetty.
“I was just walking along and saw it on the beach and I had never really seen anything like it before, so I took a few photographs,” Clem said.
“I did a bit of research on it and I think they are reasonably common, but there was one species that is nearly extinct that is quite a lot bigger than the one I found.”
Spot On Fishing Mount Gambier’s Craig Philp said he had come into contact with the species on occasion while fishing out deep, but admitted it was rare to see one washed ashore.
“I am not sure how many of them the professionals come across now, but I know we used to see a few,” he said.
“We have plenty of surf fishermen and they do not really catch them so it is certainly rare to stumble across one on the beach.”
The southern sawshark is endemic to Australia and is primarily found in waters bordering South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.
