Shark surprise

Ali Wood finds the 4ft remains of a basking shark spine on a beach and learns how boaters can help this endangered species

Basking sharks are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) endangered Red List

While cycling along the promenade in Bournemouth I spotted something unusual. It could have been a discarded bike tyre, or a very intricate piece of plastic, but by the smell gave it away. It belonged to something dead... and fishy... and huge! What species in British waters could possibly have a spine so long?

When I Googled it, it looked remarkably similar to a great white shark spine. Uh oh. That's when I knew I had to investigate...

I took it home, measured it, and sent photos to the Shark Trust. They confirmed it to be that of the second-largest shark species, the 39ft basking shark (the largest species, if you're wondering, is the 46ft whale shark).