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Tourist attraction dies in Barcelona Aquarium
Before capture, 7-foot shark became daily lure at Spanish beach
 | A seven-centimeter long hook was extracted from the esophagus of the mediterranean grey shark captured earlier this week in Tarragona, northeast Spain. The fish died Wednesday. |
Aquarium Barcelona via EPA |
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MADRID, Spain - A shark that was captured in shallow waters where it had become a daily lure for tourists on a beach died Wednesday at the Barcelona Aquarium.
Biologists had said they did not expect the 7-foot female sandbar shark to survive because it stopped swimming after being brought to the aquarium on Monday and needed help from divers to keep moving and thus breathing.
An autopsy will be carried out to determine the cause of death, the aquarium said. Preliminary tests results showed the shark had died due to a 2½-inch hook caught in its esophagus, the national news agency Efe reported.
Biologists captured the 200-pound shark Monday in knee-high water at a beach called Miracle in northeast Tarragona province, grabbing it with their bare hands and dragging it ashore.
The shark first turned up early last week and became a novelty by swimming regularly into plain view in very shallow waters. Authorities closed the beach to bathers.
After the shark was taken to the aquarium, biologists determined that its dorsal fin had been punctured by a harpoon and it had some kind of internal problem, possibly from swallowing an object.
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