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

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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).