For the second time in a year, another living shark has been found with what appears to be a man-made brand.
Casey Vance caught a small blacktip shark June 2 near the city of Dunedin, Fla. After landing the shark, the Tampa fisherman noticed a suspicious mark on the second dorsal fin that appeared to be applied by a branding iron. A closer inspection revealed the mark was the letters LT.
While it is true some markings occur natural through scarring, the youth and small size of the shark would not support the natural occurrence of obvious letters on the shark.
Not only can branding a shark can cause pain to the animal, but it can also lead to infection which could be harmful or even kill the animal.
Currently, there are no other known cases of the letters LT being branded onto sharks or other marine animals in the area. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been made aware of the situation but as of the time of publishing has not issued a statement.
There have been other cases of branded sharks.
In June 2019 a South Carolina fisherman was charged with branding a shark he caught. In this case, the fishermen from Awendaw was cited under South Carolina law (S.C. Code 50-5-40) which prohibits tagging or marking saltwater fish without the permission of South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. The fisherman faced up to 30 days in jail, but by cooperating with authorities he was eventually issued a monetary fine.
