Mystery as 30-foot SHARK with a 5ft fin spotted swimming yards off UK coast as experts warn ‘DON’T go anywhere near it’
A HUGE shark with a 5ft fin has been spotted swimming yards off the UK coast – with locals warned not to “go anywhere near it”.
The 30ft-long basking shark was seen off the coast of Northumberland last month.
A tour boat spotted the shark near the Farne Islands, an offshore seabird colony home to 43,000 puffins.
Experts are baffled why the shark turned up in the North Sea outside the usual season for sightings.
The boat’s skipper William Shiel told the Chronicle: “I just happened to spot this massive black fin.
“It was quite a size, and then there was this big animal swimming alongside the boat.
“I have maybe seen about three basking sharks off the coast here in thirty years, the last one would have been about three years ago.”
The shark was around 30ft long and its dorsal fin was 5ft high, witnesses said.
Shiel said the sighting was a case of being “in the right place at the right time”.
He said he has also spotted dolphins and seal pups off the Farne islands this year.
None of the other animals living around the islands have anything to fear from basking sharks, which are harmless filter feeders.
Northumberland Wildlife Trust chief Mike Pratt said: “Sightings of basking shark across the North Sea are relatively rare.
“They are commonly seen on the west coast of Scotland, around the Isle of Man and off the south west coast.
“As to why one was spotted off the Northumberland coast is a bit of a mystery. However, they are filter feeders, feeding on zooplankton.
“It’s common to see them around the UK during the summer months when zooplankton levels would be higher.
“Maybe the food was better in the North Sea. If anybody spots one, my advice is simple: don’t go near it – leave it well alone.”
Basking sharks are the second largest fish in the world after whale sharks – growing up to 50ft long.
What are basking sharks and how big are they?
Basking sharks are the second largest species of fish, after whale sharks.
Grey-brown adults grow to an average of 20-26ft and weigh five tons – but they can be much bigger.
The largest accurately measured was caught in Canada in 1851 and weighed 16 tons.
It was 40.3ft (12.27m) long.
Specimens longer than 33ft are rarely seen these days because over-fishing has reduced their numbers.
Basking sharks have enormous mouths more than three feet wide, with jaws that stretch open as they feed in shallow waters close to shore.
Their babies are huge as well. They are born, measuring five or six feet long, after a gestation thought to last from one to three years.
They are a protected red list species, considered vulnerable worldwide and endangered in the North East Atlantic