Haley Weidner wanted to enjoy the warm spring-like weather Monday with a walk in Piqua’s Roadside Park. But as she ventured off the bike trail around lunchtime to get a look at the rushing waters of the Great Miami River, she realized something was not right.
“I smelled it first,” she said.
Then Weidner looked down and saw what appeared to be a shark’s head along the riverbank.
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“I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this is the real thing … this is a real shark,’” she said, recounting the discovery to News Center 7′s Sean Cudahy Monday.
Weidner snapped photos of the remains of the shark and posted them on social media, and later contacted wildlife officials.
In a statement to WHIO Monday evening, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said it “looks as though someone discarded it there ... We have seen situations like this before with people discarding shark parts of carcasses after fishing trips to the ocean.”
When News Center 7 visited the river bank Monday afternoon, the carcass had been removed.
For Weidner’s part, she just finds it strange.
“In Florida it’s understandable. It was a little concerning to see it here,’ she said.
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