New shark species discovered in Puget Sound waters

New shark species discovered in Puget Sound

FOX 13's AJ Janavel takes a trip to the South Puget Sound to learn more about Washington's newest shark.

Local researchers recently discovered two new shark species in Puget Sound waters and joint crews are working to determine how long they have been here and what their habits are.

Wait, there are sharks in Puget Sound? Yes, several species, in fact.

Most of Puget Sound is ocean, salt water which is connected to the Strait of Juan De Fuca and the north through Canadian waters.

Yeah, but what kind of sharks?

Dayv Lowry, a shark expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration West Coast Region tells FOX 13 Seattle shark species known to be in Puget Sound include spiny dogfish sharks, sixgill sharks, brown catsharks, basking sharks, blue sharks, thresher sharks, salmon sharks.

Lowry said now you can add the sevengill shark and tote shark to that list.

"In 2021, we had a recreation fisherman catch a sevengill shark and because people didn’t realize they were here or in the area, someone reported it and said it was a sixgill shark and the rules say you can’t remove those out of the water," said Lowry.

Lowry said the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reached out to him to confirm it was a sixgill before fining the fisherman. He was shocked to see the picture, realizing what this fisherman had discovered.

"This is something novel. This is something exciting," he said.

In the three years since that catch, Lowry tells FOX 13 Seattle researchers have tagged about a dozen sevengill sharks.

Sevengill sharks can grow up to about 8-10 feet. They eat crabs, fish, seals and sea lions.

A team made up of researchers from Oregon State, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and NOAA are scanning the waters of South Puget Sound trying to uncover the mysteries of these newly discovered species in our waters.

For the first time in history, researchers tagged one of the Puget Sound sevengill sharks with a video recorder this week.

"It’s kind of like a shark Fitbit. This goes, and we’ll attach it to the top of the shark, and it gives us a shark-eye-view," said Ethan Personius a researcher from Oregon State University.

The video footage is expected to show researchers the habits of one of these sevengill sharks as it swims around the Totten Inlet near Olympia, for about a 24-hour window of time.

While the research crew is working in the south waters, you can encounter sharks in any area of the Puget Sound, but Lowry tells FOX 13 Seattle that should not be a cause for concern.

"I know what you’re thinking and let’s talk about it. Let’s throw it on the table. Let’s address it first. Oh my gosh, there are sharks in the water am I in trouble," he said. "We have not had a shark attack or shark encounter in the state of Washington since 1996, and it was on the outer coast. So, it’s just exceedingly rare here. And that’s with people paddleboarding, and snorkeling, and diving, and surfing, and all these different things they do on Puget Sound," Lowry added.

Researchers have also discovered the tote shark, known as the soupfin shark, is also in our waters. However, these sharks are on the verge of endangerment, Lowry said.