A huge shark – which is dangerous to humans – washed up on the beach.
Locals were said to be shocked by the beast’s sudden appearance on the shore.
The shortfin mako shark – known to attack people – became stranded on the sand.
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It died on the main beach in La Serena located north of Santiago, Chile, on the afternoon of 12 March.
Although mako sharks are common off the coast of the Coquimbo region, it is rare for them to come so close to the coast.
A video showed the animal swimming directly towards the shore after apparently becoming disorientated.
It ended up thrashing around on the sand before taking its last breath.
It also appeared to have suffered an injury to its belly.
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National Fisheries Service spokesperson Cecilia Solís said: “From what we can tell, it’s a shark that probably ran aground due to natural causes.
“It’s a dangerous species so it’s very important for people to take precautions when these types of incidents occur.
“They should inform the maritime authorities and not attempt to approach or rescue it for any reason.”
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Maritime Police officers and council workers arrived to remove the shark’s carcass from the beach.
The authorities said they will carry out tests on the dead shark to establish its exact cause of death and why it ended up so close to the shore.
Shortfin mako sharks consume 3% of their body weight each day.
They have the record for the strongest bite ever measured for any shark species, as reported by What’s The Jam.
During an experiment on Mayor Island in New Zealand in 2020, a shortfin mako recorded around 3,000 lbs of bite force.
The species is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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