Dan Snow's plea to find 'rare' missing shark head stolen by trophy hunters
TV star and historian Dan Snow has called for the return of a missing shark's head after it disappeared from a beach near his Hampshire home.
Snow, 44, said the shark washed up on Lepe Beach and marine biologists were contacted to examine it.
They went to the beach to inspect the sea predator but Snow said "we didn't get there soon enough".
The carcass, previously found whole, was then seen with its head and one of the fins chopped off.
Snow said in a video: "A team of hardy local volunteers has gone down to get the shark from the beach but we didn't get there soon enough.
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"We have recovered a good chunk of it but some trophy hunters got there just before us... They chopped the head off and the dorsal fin on the tail.
Snow said the trophy hunter's actions were 'disappointing' (BBC)"[It is] really disappointing because scientists and marine biologists sent us down there to try and secure the carcass on this once-in-a-lifetime find in British waters."
Scientists were "really hoping" to analyse the head and brain for research.
The creature, identified as a smalltooth sand tiger shark, is listed as 'vulnerable' on the Red List of Threatened Species.
Mum-of-two Alisha Openshaw had previously tried to rescue the creature when she found it stranded in the shallows, but it later washed up on the beach.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are likely fewer than 250 adult sand tiger sharks left in the world. They are normally found in warmer waters around the British Isles.
The TV presenter said on Twitter: "We went to secure the shark for science last night. But we were too late! Please please- [if] you have the head get in touch. The scientists want to have a look at it and then it's yours to keep."
Snow previously asked: 'What the hell is this fish? (@thehistoryguy / Twitter)
Scientists hope to analyse the creature's brain (@thehistoryguy / Twitter)In another video, Snow was seen helping to bag up some of the shark's organs to be collected by the Zoological Society of London.
Snow had previously appealed for an answer when the beast washed ashore on the beach where he says he swims regularly.
He said: "So I'm as shark positive as the next woke dude but what in the hell is this fish that just washed up on my local beach where I regularly swim without a care in the world?"
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He later added that Professor Ben Garrod of the University of Anglia told him the shark was an "exceptionally rare" beast.
Snow wrote: "Biologist friends like @Ben_garrod identified it as an exceptionally rare visitor to these shores and asked me secure it. I failed. The head, tail and fin were grabbed before I get assemble a big enough team to drag it off the beach to the nearest road."
The son of BBC stalwart Peter Snow said there would be "no judgement" of anyone who did take the shark head.
"Let the scientists have a look and then it's yours to keep," he appealed.
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