The timing was almost too perfect: smack in the middle of the Discovery Channel’s beloved Shark Week, a dead shark was found aboard a New York City subway car. Passengers took photos with the corpse, even propping cigarettes in its mouth and a MetroCard by its side. The Internet got its first glimpse of the inexplicable Subway rider when NYU student Brandon Sanchez posted the following photo on Instagram:
Pretty bizarre, right? Well, it seems we’ve now got an answer. As the New York Post reports, a few kids first found the shark while taking a swim at Brooklyn’s Coney Island. It got passed around and eventually ended up beside a roller-coaster, where 31-year-old Chris Landros found it, deemed it beautiful and decided to take it home with him. But he ended up leaving it on the subway for other passengers to enjoy, he told the New York Post. When Alicia Vicino — the mother of the children who first found the creature at the beach — saw images posted online, she confirmed that it was indeed the same shark.
Okay, so the mystery is mostly solved. It’s still unclear why the man thought it would be a good idea to leave the dead creature resting on the floor of a subway car. But hey — sometimes we all make impulsive decisions. After all, it’s important to remember: live every week like it’s shark week.
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