| Basking
Sharks in the Firth of Clyde |
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- Part of the skeleton of a basking
shark was washed up on Largs beach near the Pencil on
Friday 27 July 2007. The length was about 5 metres. The
remains disappeared the following day - Saturday 28
July. It is actually illegal to
possess any part of a basking shark within the UK so, if
anyone out there has 'acquired' it, please return it to
the beach :-)
- Part of an SNH
article:
'The basking shark was
nominated for protection under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife
and Countryside Act (WCA) 1981, in 1987 and 1991 through the
Quinquennial Review process, but failed on the basis of a
lack of scientific evidence. Following the MCS's ten year
campaign, support from other s and agencies, and evidence
from the MCS Basking Shark Watch Scheme, the basking shark
was afforded full protection under the Act in March 1998.
This affords protection from intentional killing, capture or
disturbance of basking sharks within British waters (up to
12 nm offshore). It is also illegal to sell, offer to sell,
or possess any part of a basking shark within the UK.'
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The largest vertebra was about 18
cms in diameter
Download a larger version 129 K of
this photo here
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Download a larger version 105 K
of this photo here |
Professor Geoff Moore, University
Marine Biological Station Millport:
"The obvious candidate for something
that large would be a basking shark or a whale of some
sort."
Mike Rutherford, Curator of Invertebrates, Kelvingrove
Art Gallery & Museum:
"after a bit of searching and
comparison with specimens in our collection I am fairly
confident in saying it is the remains of a shark, most
likely a basking shark. Whale vertebrae are more solid
looking as they are bone unlike the cartilaginous shark
skeleton, whale vertebrae also have processes coming off
them which these appear to lack. Similar specimens are often
washed up on beaches where they have been mistaken for among
other things the remains of prehistoric plesiosaurs." |
