07 January 2024 , 11:50
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The remains of a giant basking shark have been found washed up on a UK beach.
The carcass was discovered at 9am on Friday, January 5 on the sand banks close to Fort Perch Rock, at the mouth of Liverpool Bay. At 15ft long the carcass was found by New Brighton local Stephen Davies, 72, whilst he was out on his morning run, The Liverpool Echo reports.
He said: "I was running on the beach and thought 'what's that?' because it looked quite big. I was talking to a fisherman who said it was a basking shark, which I don't think are fairly common around here, but it could have been washed in by the tide. I have never come across anything like it before."
New Brighton Beach in Wirral (Liverpool Echo)The basking shark is the second largest fish found in UK seas. The animal moves slowly, and picks up tiny zooplankton in their enormous mouths, which can be up to a metre wide.
The Wildlife Trust states that the species is typically seen in the summer months, and is known for populating the coasts of south-west England, Wales, the Isle of Man and west Scotland. Regardless of its huge size, the dead shark which was found in New Brighton is thought to have been a youngster, because fully grown basking sharks can measure from forty feet to twelve metres in length, and can weigh as much as six tonnes.
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The carcass was discovered at approximately 9am on Friday, January 5 on the sand banks close to Fort Perch Rock, at the mouth of Liverpool Bay (Liverpool Echo)The Trust told The Liverpool Echo: "The basking shark may be huge but we still know very little about this elusive giant. Satellite tracking has shown that they can migrate long distances in the winter, with some showing up off the Azores and even Newfoundland.
"However, some fishermen have reported seeing them in midwinter in the UK and they sometimes wash up dead in the winter after storms." The body of the shark was removed from the beach with the help of a forklift truck.