Shark found stranded on Perranporth Beach
It's now been taken for a post-mortem to discover why it died in our region
Last updated 4th Jun 2024
A shark has been found dead on a beach in Cornwall.
The 'Thresher Shark' was found washed-up on Perranporth Beach yesterday - and has now been attended to by the teams from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
To help retrieve the shark from the beach, staff from The Watering Hole close to the site came down before it was taken for a post-mortem examination - so experts can find out exactly why the shark passed away.
It's not an uncommon shark to see in our region, but is usually in our waters in the summer months.
It is, however, a species that is listed as 'vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
To identify the creature, the Wildlife Trusts say it's got a "classic shark shape" with a body in the shape of a torpedo. It can also grow up to 6 metres in length and weigh up to 340 kilos.
On Facebook, the team from the Marine Strandings Network said: "They are sighted off our coast most years by water users and fishermen, and occasionally strand dead like this one did yesterday.
"The carcass is going to post mortem with the fantastic Cetacean Strandings Investigations Programme to discover more about why it dies.
"A big thank you to The Watering Hole for assisting with retrieving the carcass."
The Cornwall Marine Strandings Network is part of the Wildlife Trust and has been operating in our region for the past 25 years across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
They train and support over 150 volunteers - and record the reports of stranded animals to help learn about the state of our seas, and how we can better conserve wildlife.
People across Cornwall are being reminded there is a hotline open if you do find the carcass of a marine animal stranded on the beach - you should call 03452 012636.
You can find out more about what happened on the Marine Strandings Network Facebook Page.
You can find out more about Thresher Sharks here.
Picture licence
The image file of Perranporth Beach is by Fossick OU and was sourced from Wikimedia Commons. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.