Rare 10ft long razor-toothed shark found in only ‘third ever sighting off UK’
A rare sand tiger shark with razor-sharp teeth was found in Devon and it is believed to be the third-ever of its kind spotted near the UK.
Fisherman Barry Trevett, 40, was out at sea near the town of Lyme Regis on Monday when he noticed the more than 10ft-long predator floating dead in the water.
He used a rope to haul it onboard and saw that shark took up half the length of his seven-metre boat.
‘It was such a mind-blowing thing to come across – in all my years I’ve never come across something like it,’ Barry told The Sun.
He added: ‘I quickly realised it’s a shark that isn’t meant to be in our waters.
‘I phoned my brother and joked: “Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the water!”
‘As a lover of the ocean, I was in complete amazement to see such a magnificent creature — but saddened it was dead.’
Barry reported his discovery to the Zoological Society London but they only came to fetch the body on Wednesday night, meaning Barry had to keep it in the back of his refrigerated van for two days.
Smalltooth sand tiger sharks are usually found in waters around parts of Africa, Australia and central America.
The species is listed as critically endangered with populations unknown because of how naturally rare they are.
This is believed to be the third-ever sighting of the shark off the British Isles, with the other two taking place in the past two months.
A 6ft smalltooth sand tiger shark washed up on the beach at Lepe beach in Hampshire in March.
Historian Dan Snow was enlisted to secure and examine the shark, but before he got there, the head, tail and fin had been cut off and taken.
He said at the time: ‘There is no law against it, but please come forward so it can be examined for science.’
Just a few weeks later, another smalltooth sand tiger shark washed up in Co Wexford, Ireland.
It has been speculated that the species are being spotted in seas around the British Isles because climate change is warming the water.
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