A strange-looking shark with a tail longer than its body has washed up dead on a popular beach.
Fisherman Jason Moyce was strolling along the shore when he came across the fish.
He took several photographs of the dead animal and identified it as an endangered thresher shark.
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“It is usually a deep water shark,” Jason, from Sydney, Australia, told What’s The Jam.
“But some have been caught in the shallows in recent years.
“It’s a shame to see.”
Jason, who is a second-generation sustainable fisherman, found the animal on Seven Mile beach in Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia, on Monday, 30 September, and immediately reported it to authorities.
Measuring around 20 feet in length, common threshers are known for their streamlined body and large scythe-like tail fins.
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The tail’s upper lobe accounts for about half of its total body length.
Threshers are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list.
Common threshers are intentionally targeted by hunters for their expensive meat but are also accidentally caught by fishing crews.
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A spokesperson for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA) said: “The sharks are aggressive predators that feed near the top of the food chain on schooling fish such as herring and mackerel and occasionally on squid and seabirds.
“Adult common thresher sharks have few predators, but younger, smaller ones may fall prey to larger sharks.”
Just last year, wildlife photographer Alex Aitkenhead came across another thresher while out jogging.
“I found the shark on my regular run,” Alex told Jam Press.
“It was in a very good state, with no damage or any sign of injuries or predation.
“The only noticeable point was that the eyes were missing, but this is common.”
Alex believes the shark remained in the water for a couple of days after its death, allowing smaller fish to feast on its soft eyes.
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