Dead shark at Cove center not part of trend, but officials say timing is right

Tiburon resident James Skelton snapped this image of a dead leopard shark on the bank of East Creek near The Cove shopping center on April 18 after his family spotted it upside down in the water earlier that morning.

While state officials and conservationists say a dead leopard shark found in the creek behind The Cove shopping center is not part of any current trend, one conservationist says the conditions are ripe.

The 5-foot shark was found floating upside down in the East Creek near the outbound side of Tiburon Boulevard on April 18 by nearby resident Zuzana Skelton and her two children, Eliska and Stella, as they were on the way to Strawberry Preschool at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Skelton was taking the kids by the creek to see if there were ducks or birds.

In a phone interview, husband James Skelton said he found it interesting that the shark had made it underneath the Tiburon Boulevard culvert and was unsure whether it was already dead when his family found it. The family returned later April 18 at lower tide, where they found the shark washed ashore. It remained there when The Ark visited the site April 23.

“We keep taking the kids over there, depending on the tide, and see how the shark’s doing,” James Skelton said.

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