60 Summers Throwback: 29-Foot Shark Stolen, from June 15, 1979

As published in the June 15, 1979 issue of Dan’s Papers:

Someone has made off with the shark.

The twenty-nine foot shark that floated ashore dead on the village line with his head in Westhampton Beach and his tail in Quogue two weeks ago has disappeared. Where did he go?

Originally, officials from the Quogue Police Department, the Westhampton Beach Police Department, the United States Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service all denied responsibility for the removal of the dead shark. Removing this fish, after all, could be a smelly operation costing several thousand dollars. One had to consider that the beast weighed many thousands of pounds.

Now that the shark has been stolen, or whatever happened to it, it is a different story. It is unclear whether an investigation on its disappearance will be conducted by the Quogue Police Department, the United States Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

We await developments.

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