How big is the shark that has washed ashore on a Long Island beach?
– A basking shark that washed up on a beach in Gilgo State Park, a few miles from crowded Jones Beach, has died, parks officials said. “So far there evidence of how it died, externally it’s completely fine,” said David Chapman, of Stony Brook University. “It didn’t die of old age, because they get to 35 or 40 feet.” This shark was about 20 feet long and weighed about a ton. Surfers who saw the hulking shark wash ashore said it was quite an imposing sight. Sources: http://www.myfoxny.
BABYLON, N.Y. — A 20-foot-long basking shark that appears to be dying has washed ashore on a Long Island beach. Tracy Marcus of Cornell Cooperative Extension says the shark is likely dying from some kind of illness. There are no propeller wounds that might have come from a boat, nor are there any puncture wounds on the animal, which was barely breathing. The basking shark, which are a common sight in the waters off Long Island, washed ashore on a town beach a few miles east of Jones Beach. Basking sharks are not considered dangerous. They eat plankton. Marcus estimates the shark weighs about a ton. She says it is unusual for an ailing basking shark to come ashore. Usually they die in the ocean. Sources: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,532560,00.
