Moray: Dead 12ft basking shark washed up on Portgordon beach found with plastic in its stomach

A basking shark found dead on a Moray beach was found to have eaten plastic.

A necropsy was carried out on Saturday on a male basking shark - the world's second largest species of fish after whale sharks - that had reportedly washed up at Portgordon.

Chris Rickard and Dr Lauren Smith, from Shark and Skate Scotland, carried out the examination.

A small 3cm square piece of plastic was found inside the stomach of the animal. Volunteers said that given the amount of feeding basking sharks do in any given day, it is “unsurprising that pieces of plastic will be ingested”.

Shark and Skate Scotland said, while there was no obvious cause of death, they had taken several samples to be analysed. Due to the shark’s size and location, it has been left in situ on the beach to decompose.

At 4.38m, the shark was still immature. The species can reach more than double this length when fully grown.

The shark itself was first seen on Thursday last week, dead in the surf, by a member of the public.

Chris Rickard next to the deceased male basking shark. | Shark and Skate Scotland

It was reported to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, which put out a call for the organisation’s trained volunteers to attend.

Sharks ‘seem to have chosen to gather on east coast’ in recent years

Mr Rickard said: “I am one of those trained volunteers, but also run Shark and Skate Scotland, alongside Lauren. We were attending a shark conference in Rotterdam, but were travelling home later that day, so volunteered to attend the shark on our return the next day.

“Samples taken by us were sent to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme for processing. Basking shark have been seen regularly in the west coast of Scotland in past decades and less frequently in the east coast.

“However, in the past few years, they seem to have chosen to gather on the east coast, with high numbers spotted in one area - 60-plus - in one instance off Nairn. We are not sure what has caused this apparent shift in preferential grounds, but feeding or reproduction are possible drivers for changes in behaviour.”

The shark itself was first seen on Thursday last week. | Shark & Skate Scotland

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Experts have said these large shark and skate species are found along the UK coast year round, though are rarely seen. They said many shark and skate species were in decline, with the biggest threat worldwide to sharks being commercial overfishing.

The volunteers said they were also aware of Porbeagle and Blue sharks washed ashore in the north east during recent weeks. They said there is no reason to believe these sightings are related.

There have also been reports of the critically endangered flapper skate being washed on shores dead, as well as one live stranding last month in Montrose, in recent months.