A young basking shark was discovered caught in fishing net along Derrynane Long Beach in south-west Kerry.
The rare basking shark was found dead by locals Peter Sweeney, a photographer, and his friend Chris Gleeson on Sunday evening.
It is believed to have been an accidental "by-catch" by a fishing boat which died out at sea and was washed ashore where it was discovered.
The basking shark along with the great white shark are classed as vulnerable to extinction. The 1933 film Man of Aran by the American filmmaker Robert Flaherty celebrated a hunt for the basking shark and was part of Hollywood's long infatuation with sharks and their supposed threat to man. The lastest of course was Jaws. In fact most sharks are harmless, especially the basking shark which does not even have teeth but filterfeeds.
Basking sharks were once very common off Ireland but are rarely seen anymore
A major international campaign is now underway to protect sharks from commercial fishing. Some 70,000 sharks are taken from the world's waters eveyr year just for their fins which fetch $300 a pound, making them more expensive than caviar.
The sadndiscovery of a dead basking shark off Ireland follows unusual events along the coast of Kerry where several bottlenose dolphins have died in Tralee Bay. A dead animal was also found floating off Fenit, while there was also another stranding off Camp.
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) is appealing for any reports on stranded dolphins in the Kerry area, following the unusual sequence of marine mammal beachings over the last few days.
More at The Irish Times
About Flaherty's Man of Aran film
BSP's new score for Man of Aran
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