Endangered Shark Washes Ashore Near Taylor Swift’s Home

Though Taylor Swift has yet to make an appearance at her Westerly, Rhode Island home this summer, there has been a lot of action near her property in 2025.

Back in January construction crews were seen adding an addition to her second floor, then in May human remains were found to have washed up on shore near her Watch Hill neighborhood.

Now it seems an endangered shark has also washed up near her Watch Hill shores, sparking all sorts of online debate about its demise.

Last week a 9-foot long porbeagle shark was found washed ashore at East Beach in Watch Hill by a beachgoer who happened to have a permit to drive on the beach. Though deceased, the shark showed no signs of trauma which meant a great opportunity for the Atlantic Shark Institute.

The Rhode Island based nonprofit is dedicated to the research and conservation of sharks, so this porbeagle discovered in Westerly gives them a perfect opportunity to study this endangered species.

What is a Porbeagle Shark?

Porbeagle sharks have been commercially fished for decades, prized for their meat and their fins. Sadly overfishing has led to extreme drops in populations, leaving their species of shark on the critically endangered list in North Atlantic waters.

READ MORE: Massachusetts Resident Receives Stunning Shark Bite (Video)

This made finding such a rare shark on East Beach even more surprising — and sad.

Community Reaction in Westerly

Local residents were quick to point to the offshore wind farms as a potential cause of death for the shark, sparking debate online about their potential impact on marine life.

READ MORE: Lone Killer Whale Found Living Among Dolphins in Massachusetts

The Atlantic Shark Institute plans to perform a full necropsy on the shark to learn more about how it died as well as gain more information about the animal's life in general.