Destiny the porbeagle shark was almost beheaded by a plastic ring that got stuck around her neck as a baby, and which began to cut into her flesh as she grew older (Pictures: Sulikowski Shark and Fish Research Lab)

A shark was almost sliced in half after growing up trapped inside a plastic ring she’d gotten tangled in as a baby.

The seven-foot long (224cm) porbeagle shark was spotted by marine scientist James Sulikowski off the coast of Maine during the first week of July.

Sulikowski and his fellow researchers quickly removed the plastic from the shark, which is likely to grow as long as 11-feet (335cm) when she reaches maturity.

The scientist shared the incident on his Facebook page, writing: ‘On Tuesday we tagged and released an incredible 224 cm female porbeagle Shark.


‘Unfortunately, we noticed an unusual injury, a piece of circular plastic had become lodged around her neck when she was younger.

After removing the tag, scientist James Sulikowski added a tracker tag, and was delighted to discover Destiny was alive, well and recovering after her terrible ordeal (Picture: Sulikowski Shark and Fish Research Lab)

‘As she grew, it began to cut through her skin into her muscle. If we had not removed it, she surely would have died.’



Sulikowski said he and his team attached a tag to the shark’s dorsal fin, in the hope of tracking her movements and monitoring whether she was recovering from the injury.

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And he had good news for fellow nature-lovers, saying: ‘We are happy to report she is alive and well and transmitting locations already.

‘Given the nature of her injury and her fortitude to not give up, we have named her Destiny because she is definitely a survivor!

‘Stay tuned for updates on her whereabouts!’

Destiny’s brush with death comes amid increased awareness of the dangers of dumping plastic in the sea.

Conservationists have shared horrific photos of turtles with plastic straws stuck up their noses, and whales with plastic bags in their stomachs.

They want to highlight how harmful apparently innocuous human garbage can be to marine wildlife.