Divers search for sharks in WA's Puget Sound

Looking for sixgill sharks in Des Moines, WA

Right off the dock of the Mast Center Aquarium in Des Moines, divers of all skill levels during the summer months try to see the living fossils calling Puget Sound home.

DES MOINES, Wash. - Throughout the summer, divers hit Puget Sound waters off Des Moines looking for sixgill sharks.

The prehistoric fish grows up to 20 feet when it’s fully grown, but experts say the waters off Redondo Beach in Des Moines are used as a nursery for juvenile sharks.

What they're saying:

"We’re seeing the little ones. The little ones are only three to six feet in length, and a six-footer is somewhere around 300 lbs. So, that is little. The big ones we don’t see here, a female could be up to 20 feet long. That’s great white shark size," said Rus Higley director of the Highline College MaST Aquarium Center.

This year, the city said it is the ‘sixgill shark capital of the world’ and designated July 6 as Sixgill Shark Day.

Higley tells FOX 13 Seattle that from June through September, divers have the chance to see the sharks just a few yards off the Des Moines coastline.

"[They] came up and booped my friend’s GoPro and then gave me some serious side-eye action," said Ashley Arnold, owner of Jade Scuba Adventures.

Arnold tells FOX 13 Seattle she has had several face-to-face experiences with sixgill sharks, and while it might seem unnerving that six-foot sharks are swimming in Puget Sound, it is nothing to worry about.

"They’re not trying to eat you. We’re not on their food chain," she said.

Higley says you are safe swimming in Puget Sound even with sharks. 

"In Washington state’s entire history, there has been one documented shark attack on the coast, and it wasn’t on the Puget sound," he said. "I would take my children down diving with them and not worry about it," he added.

Higley and Arnold said sharks in the water mean the Puget Sound is healthy.

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