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A fisherman caught an unusual shark off RI. Now researchers ask if more are moving here.

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A fisherman caught an unusual shark off RI. Now researchers ask if more are moving here.



The young spinner shark was caught off Charlestown. The species normally lives in southern waters.

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  • A 24-inch spinner shark, a species typically found in waters near Florida, was discovered off the coast of Charlestown, Rhode Island, in September 2024.
  • The shark’s partially healed umbilical cord suggests it was very young and raises questions about whether it was born nearby or migrated north.
  • Researchers are uncertain if this finding indicates a northward shift in spinner shark nursery habitats due to warming waters or just a rare occurrence.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – A young shark whose species is normally found in southern waters has raised questions for researchers after its discovery off Charlestown in September of 2024.

The 24-inch spinner shark had a partially healed umbilical cord, indicating that it was less than a year old. Could it have been born nearby? Did the youngster make a long trek north into Rhode Island waters?

Spinner sharks are common in waters off the southeastern United States coast but have rarely been seen near Southern New England, according to Jon Dodd, executive director of the Atlantic Shark Institute in Wakefield.

Joshua Moyer, resident research scientist at the institute and a lecturer at Yale University, said, “According to the literature, most documented nursery habitat for spinners range from the Carolinas to Florida. But here we have a small shark with a partially healed umbilical wound, supporting its designation as a young-of-the-year shark, in Rhode Island.”

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Was it a ‘rare stray’ or born nearby?

Still, the researchers say it’s too soon to determine whether the shark was “a rare stray,” or the nursery habitat for spinner sharks is shifting northward because of warming waters caused by climate change. “A single shark does not constitute proof of a nursery,” Dodd said in a press release.

The young shark’s presence in Rhode Island led to the publication of a paper in the Journal of Fish Biology. It was written by Moyer, Dodd and Stephen Kajiura, a professor at Florida Atlantic University and member of the Atlantic Shark Institute’s research advisory board.

“The most fascinating thing about the paper is the size of the spinner shark,” Dodd said. “With a range that focuses on the southern U.S., a mom giving birth here in Rhode Island is unique and opens up a range of questions.”

“Our oceans are changing, known habitats are changing, and what we knew to be the case only 10 years ago may no longer be accurate,” Dodd said. “That is both exciting and disconcerting.”

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Most of the world’s oceans have seen a temperature rise, an average rate of 0.14°F per decade from 1901 through 2023, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. However, sea surface temperatures have cooled in some areas, including parts of the North Atlantic, according to the EPA.

The spinner shark was caught by Capt. Carl Granquist on Sept. 1, 2024, while he was fishing on the Estrella Domar “just south” of Charlestown, according to Dodd. Granquist wasn’t sure of the species, but he and his mate, Bryce Biggs, measured it and took video of it before returning it to the water, Dodd said. Granquist sent the video to the Atlantic Shark Institute.

“Less than an hour after he (Granquist) released the shark, I received the video, and I was reallysurprised at the size and potential species of the shark,” Dodd said. “I knew it was one of two species of shark and either one would be a pretty unique find here in Rhode Island waters, particularly at only 24 inches in length.”

While spinner sharks closely resemble blacktip sharks, Dodd, Moyer and Kajiura ultimately concluded it was a spinner shark. In 2020, Dodd was also surprised when he spotted a blacktip shark in Rhode Island waters. They also typically live in southern waters.

Spinner sharks live up to their name

The Florida Museum of Natural History describes spinner sharks as “a slender, gray-bronze shark named for its distinctive aerial ‘spinning’ behavior at the surface.”

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“When feeding, spinner sharks will often swim through schools of bait fish, spinning along their longitudinal axis, snapping at fish as they move through the water toward the surface,” the museum says. “When they breach the surface, they can be seen spinning in the air – sometimes as much as 20 feet above the water surface.”

Spinner sharks grow to an average of about 6.4 feet and have been blamed for 16 unprovoked attacks on humans, although none have been fatal, according to the museum’s International Shark Attack File. Their “teeth are adapted for seizing small prey rather than tearing at large prey and therefore usually result in relatively minor injuries,” according to the museum.

Though unusual, it’s not the first time spinner sharks have been detected in Southern New England. The Atlantic Shark Institute managed to tag three spinner sharks in the summer of 2022 and is monitoring their movements since the tags send signals when the sharks pass close to acoustic receivers along the East Coast.

Since they were tagged, those spinner sharks have been detected more than 75 times along the East Coast, according to Kimmie Lavoie, a research analyst at the Atlantic Shark Institute.

“Interestingly, we have had no detections further north than North Carolina,” Dodd said. “These sharks love warmer water and more moderate temperatures. A couple have visited Florida, but their home base has been North Carolina.”

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ACLU of RI sues McKee alleging denial of access to regularly used State House rally area | ABC6

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ACLU of RI sues McKee alleging denial of access to regularly used State House rally area | ABC6


PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Attorneys for the ACLU of Rhode Island have filed a lawsuit against RI Governor Dan McKee, alleging the governor’s office explicitly told state and capitol police to bar protesters from accessing the State House rotunda and upper floors.

The rally was planned to take place in the rotunda an hour before McKee’s January 2025 State of the State address.

The event was to be attended by local groups including Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project and by activist Harrison Tuttle.

Tuttle was the President of the now dissolved Rhode Island Black Lives Matter PAC at the time.

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The suit claims that Tuttle and fellow protesters arrived to be told that McKee’s office instructed police from letting them enter.

Tuttle was told by police that he in particular was not allowed to enter the areas, according to the suit.

The suit also claims that other people were allowed to access those areas of the State House.

The suit states that the rotunda is commonly used by protesters, and that its entrance was blocked off by capitol and state police.

A sign accompanied the officers that said the rotunda was reserved from 4:30-10 p.m., and the governor’s office didn’t reserve the area until 4:39 p.m., according to records cited by the ACLU of RI.

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The protesters were directed by police to the “Bell Room” for their event, which is a less visible area in the back of the State House’s first floor, according to the suit.

The ACLU of RI statement reads in part:

In any event, despite being ‘reserved,’ the rotunda was not used for any purpose during that timeframe. The lawsuit argues that the Governor’s reservation of the space and the Capitol and State Police’s actions were undertaken to stifle the protesters’ exercise of their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

Executive director of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project Eric Hirsch, a participant in the suit stated:

I’ve been advocating for an end to homelessness in Rhode Island for a long time. I was shocked to see the Rotunda at the Statehouse roped off when I arrived for the People’s State of the State rally. I had attended dozens of rallies there over the years. To make matters worse, we were also prevented from getting anywhere near the Governor’s address. We were confined to a lower floor of the Statehouse. This is unacceptable. We have a right to express our view of the Governor’s policies toward people experiencing homelessness.

ABC6 has reached out to the office of Governor Dan McKee for comment in this matter but has not yet heard back.





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RI GOP asking for resident input for upcoming Washington Bridge oversight hearing | ABC6

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RI GOP asking for resident input for upcoming Washington Bridge oversight hearing | ABC6


PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island Republican leaders are asking for public input ahead of an upcoming oversight hearing on the Washington Bridge forensic report.

The report, recently revealed to have been withheld by Governor Dan McKee at attorneys’ advice, will be the subject of the planned November 13 oversight hearing.

McKee stated that he knew that repairs were needed on the bridge for two years before its December 11, 2023 westbound side closure, but was confident that work was underway.

McKee said that once he was aware the bridge deficiencies were irreparable, he approved the closure.

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Rhode Island House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale said in a statement, in part:

Now that the Speaker and Senate President have committed to ‘a thorough and rigorous examination’ of the Washington Bridge failure and have empowered the Joint Oversight Committee to take testimony under oath, Rhode Islanders deserve answers without delay on this on-going administrative disaster.

Residents can contribute questions to the hearing process via email at rigopcaucus@gmail.com.

 





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Smithfield’s response to anti-Semitic hazing incident is ‘egregious,’ Jewish Alliance says

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Smithfield’s response to anti-Semitic hazing incident is ‘egregious,’ Jewish Alliance says


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The mother of a Jewish football player told the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island that five Smithfield football players, all seniors, trapped her son in a bathroom and sprayed him with Lysol while yelling anti-Jewish slurs, according to a representative of the alliance.

The Alliance staff member, Stephanie Hague, says the woman told her the entrapment involved a chair pushed against a door, but it wasn’t clear from the woman’s comments if her son was trapped in a bathroom, or in a particular area of a bathroom.

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Hague said she could not further clarify the specific circumstances of the Lysol-spraying but as she understood it, the player was exposed to the spray during the entrapment and other hazing.

Did the Smithfield football players use anti-Semitic slurs?

“The reason I am not sharing the slurs is because they are, one, not suitable for print, but also because there is some dispute of exactly the phrasing,” said the Alliance’s president, Adam Greenman.

“But we do know that they were anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic slurs and the incident was witnessed by 20 other football players,” Greenman added.

Hague said that Greenman’s comment is “correct.” She emphasized that she is not a lawyer or police investigator, but as part of her job at the Alliance, she responds to matters of antisemitism.

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Greenman said the organization has talked to the student’s mother and to others who witnessed what took place.

“We feel fairly confident that we understand the details of what happened,” he said.

Alliance putting public focus on district’s response to the incident

Hague and Greenman made those comments on Monday, Oct. 27 as the student’s mother and the Jewish Alliance made plans to bring attention to the situation at an anticipated meeting of Smithfield’s school committee.

Both the Alliance and the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center have condemned the school district’s handling of the incident, asserting that five seniors were initially kicked off the team but were then reinstated to the team on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

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The players’ return to the team was in time to participate in Friday night’s game against Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout, which the team won 16-6.

On Thursday, Oct. 23, the school district’s Superintendent Dawn Bartz, gave a one-sentence statement in an email seeking comment on the situation: “The disciplinary process has concluded, and we will not be discussing details involving students.”

“The fact that the school district has reversed course on consequences for the students is just egregious,” Greenman said.

“We all know that if a consequence is taken away for something like this, it encourages that behavior moving forward,” he said. “We’re very concerned that the students involved were reinstated. We’re very concerned that it seems like the school district is not taking this seriously.”

Meeting canceled hours after Jewish Alliance encourages public attendance

Later on Monday, it became clear that Smithfield Town Council had canceled its Tuesday, Oct. 28, joint session with the School Committee.

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An executive assistant to the town manager in Smithfield confirmed that the meeting had been canceled, noting that there are plans to reschedule the meeting, but no date has been set at this time.

The town clerk later said that based on the volume of queries from members the public and news media, the town determined it needed to move the joint meeting from the Town Council’s chambers to a larger venue, according to Donna Corrao, who is an executive assistant for Town Manager Robert W. Seltzer.

The cancellation came hours after the Alliance sent a press release encouraging the public to attend the meeting to “express your outrage and desire to act” after a “horrific antisemitic hazing incident at Smithfield High School.”

The Alliance had encouraged people to:

  • Attend in support and solidarity
  • Share brief testimony if you have a strong connection to Smithfield or a compelling personal experience to contribute
  • Hold signs and wear pins, which would have been available at the meeting.



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