A Sandbar shark was killed when a truck transporting several of them to Coney Island crashed in Florida, authorities said on Thursday.
The shark was killed when its tank broke as the truck it was traveling north on I-95 in blew a tire, about 20 miles south of Daytona Beach, said Carl Cusumano, a spokesman for the Volusia County Professional Firefighters.
The truck then “ran off into the woods” at about 2:20 p.m., he said. Cusumano said the three people in the truck were not injured, but the responding firefighters were very surprised to learn about the wild cargo.
The shark, which was about five feet long, was one of four that were all headed to the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, said Sergeant Kim Montes, a spokeswoman for the Florida Highway Patrol. The remaining sharks were taken to SeaWorld in Orlando where they are being held until they can be brought up to New York.
A spokesman for the Wildlife Conservation Society, who owns the New York Aquarium, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sandbar shark can grow up to eight feet long and is found in subtropical waters. They eat bony fishes, other small sharks, octopuses, shrimp, rays and snails.
