Stranger gave teens dead shark found hoisted on rafters at Florida high school, FWC says

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Two youngsters bought a bull shark from a stranger who caught it in Mayport final week after which they gutted it and saved the lifeless fish with ice in a single day at a pal’s home earlier than hoisting it from the rafters at Ponte Vedra Excessive College as a senior prank, in keeping with an incident report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee obtained Wednesday by News4JAX.

College officers mentioned that 5 Ponte Vedra Excessive college students have been recognized by investigators as having hoisted the lifeless shark on the college on Davis Park Street, Information 6 companion WJXT-TV reported.

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The FWC report lists two 17-year-olds and three 18-year-olds as being concerned, in addition to a 19-year-old.

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The report exhibits one of many 18-year-olds advised an FWC investigator that he and one other one of many 17-year-olds have been fishing in Mayport the night time of Could 3 when a person subsequent to them caught a bull shark. He mentioned they requested the person if they might preserve the shark, and he gave it to them. The teenager mentioned they needed to make use of it for a senior prank, in order that they gutted it after which saved it within the 19-year-old’s yard with ice.

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The 17-year-old who was additionally fishing in Mayport that night time mentioned they purchased the shark for $100 from the stranger, in keeping with the FWC report. He additionally advised the investigator that he drove the shark in his truck mattress from the pal’s home to the varsity the following night time.

About 9 p.m. Could 4, in keeping with the FWC report, the 18-year-old and 17-year-old who bought the shark and three different teenagers, ages 17 and 18, went via an open gate via the again of the varsity, rolled the shark in and lifted it onto the rafters utilizing a pulley system. and ladder. The 19-year-old was the lookout at a close-by Gate gasoline station in case anybody drove into the varsity, in keeping with the report.

The report doesn’t say who killed the shark.

The next morning, in keeping with the FWC report, a 63-year-old Ponte Vedra Excessive upkeep employee arrived at work round 7:30 a.m. Could 5 and located a lifeless shark hanging from the rafters off the stairway within the entrance courtyard. He positioned a dumpster below the shark and lower the ropes holding it. He advised the FWC investigator that the shark landed within the dumpster and was then taken to a landfill by the upkeep crew. From there, the shark was moved to Georgia for disposal.

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The investigator for FWC, which is main the investigation, gathered images of the shark hanging from the rafters on the college and despatched them to 2 of the company’s marine shark biologists, who did affirm the shark was a bull shark.

“The shark was recognized as a Bull Shark, which is authorized to own. The authorized measurement restrict for a Bull Shark is 54 inches. Based mostly on the images supplied by college students, I decided the Bull Shark to be over the authorized measurement of 54 inches,” the FWC investigator wrote within the report. Based on the FWC web site, harvestable Group 2 sharks — seven species that embrace bull sharks — have a 54 inch (fork size) minimal measurement restrict.

The report mentioned that no resource-related violations have been discovered and that this data was introduced to the State Legal professional’s Workplace, which agreed.

The varsity on Wednesday despatched a press release to News4JAX saying, “The shark was eliminated previous to notification to FWC. This was a singular scenario and as you’ll be able to think about not one which the workers at PVHS has encountered earlier than. They needed to keep away from making a worrying scenario for any people or college students arriving on campus.”

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Based on the varsity district, penalties have been utilized for a stage 4 self-discipline — which incorporates no senior yr actions, together with commencement, obligatory suspension, doable expulsion and extra.

In the meantime, oneProtest, an animal advocacy group, began a web based petition on change.org calling for signatures in help of searching for expenses in opposition to the 5 college students recognized by investigators.

And PETA (Individuals for the Moral Therapy of Animals) mentioned it despatched a letter to St. Johns County College District Superintendent Tim Forson on Tuesday providing classes on kindness to animals after the incident.