Massive rescue effort to save 15ft shark stranded on UK beach fails when it refuses to be guided back out to sea
- Basking shark was stranded alive on the beach at Filey, North Yorks. last night
- Lifeboat crews and rescue specialists tried to return the shark to the sea
- Despite massive rescue efforts the shark struggled in the water and restranded
A massive rescue effort to save a 15ft shark stranded on a UK beach has failed after it refused to be guided back out to sea.
Lifeboat crews and rescue specialists attempted to save the basking shark which was stranded alive on the beach in Filey, North Yorkshire, last night.
Rescuers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said a large crowd of people had gathered to try to assist the creature.
A huge rescue mission was launched to save the life of a 15ft basking shark which became stranded on the beach in Filey, North Yorkshire
Lifeboat crews and rescue specialists were called in to help try and save the stranded shark
Medics arrived following a call at about 6pm suggesting a shark was in difficulty on the shore.
The BDMLR said: ‘With the help of the local Coastguard and RNLI teams, together they managed to guide the 4.4-metre long creature back into the water as the tide came in.
‘Unfortunately, the shark appeared to be struggling as it was listing consistently over to its right-hand side and circling in the shallows, sometimes needing support from the rescuers.
‘Potentially this could indicate it was weak, unwell or may even have suffered some brain damage during the process of live stranding.’
The BDMLR said despite their attempts to move it into deeper water, the shark continued to head back to the beach where it restranded.
Later in the evening it was put to sleep by a vet due to the poor prognosis.
Despite their efforts, the shark struggled to swim and was later found restranded on the beach again
BDMLR said: ‘Thank you to all Medics, Filey Lifeboat Station, Filey Coastguard, Scarborough SEA LIFE Sanctuary and RSPCA (England & Wales) who attended plus our Hotline Coordinator Teri who did what they could for the animal under these unusual and difficult circumstances.’
Footage filmed by people in the crowds on the beach and nearby cliffs showed a number of rescuers in the water dwarfed by the shark’s huge dorsal fin.
The charity said the shark is thought to have been a male and was around the size and age where it would have been maturing into an adult.
It is possible a lack of oxygen passing through its gills in the shallow water could have explained its behaviour, it said.
According to the BDMLR, basking sharks are most often seen on the west coast of the UK and sightings in the North Sea are rare.
They are mostly seen in British waters from spring until autumn, with occasional sightings in winter.
Satellite tagging studies in the UK have shown that they can move across the Atlantic to places as far afield as North America and North West Africa.
Basking sharks: Plankton eaters who can live for more than 50 years
Typically reaching an average size of 19 to 26ft and weight of six tonnes as an adult, basking sharks are the second-largest fish in the world, after the whale shark.
They inhabit every ocean in the world but generally prefer subpolar seas and cold and temperate waters.
Endangered basking sharks swim with their mouths open as wide as 3ft to catch plankton
The sharks, which are thought to live for up to 50 years, are listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature but are not a danger to people.
Fishing of this shark occurs in several countries and they are traded for the meat, oil, liver, cartilage and fins.
Basking shark oil, liver and fins is particularly valuable and has resulted in the threat to the species survival.
Commercial fishing for basking sharks is banned in several regions and the species is protected in some countries such as the US, UK and New Zealand.
Basking sharks only eat plankton. They swim along with their mouth open, sometimes as wide as 3ft, using specialised ‘rakers’ in the gills to extract their food as it passes through them.
They have teeth but as they have evolved to no longer need them they have virtually disappeared and are only a few millimetres long.
Their tails are crescent moon shaped and their dorsal and pectoral fins can reach two metres each.