Volunteers headed to the beach to retrieve the super rare sand tiger shark for an autopsy, but the creature had been decapitated and left on the beach.
An unknown trophy hunter has stolen the head of a rare shark after it washed up on a UK beach.
The beast was discovered by Alisha Openshaw, a daughter of two, over the weekend on Lepe beach, where people usually “swim without a care in the world.”
Alisha discovered the beast in shallow water and thought she had rescued it after dragging it into deeper water on March 17.
Sadly, the 6-foot shark died on Friday (March 17) in another part of the beach just hours later.
Once checked by experts, it turned out to be a very rare small-toothed sand tiger shark, never before seen in the UK.
A rare 6ft long smalltooth sand bull shark washed up on Lepe beach (Image: Solent News & Photo Agency)
The History Channel’s Dan Snow shared an image of the shark on Twitter over the weekend.
He said: “So I’m as positive about sharks as the next guy to wake up, but what the heck is this fish that just turned up on my local beach where I regularly swim without a care in the world?”
But when volunteers headed to the Hampshire coast in the early hours of March 19 to retrieve the shark for an autopsy and other investigations, part of the creature was missing.
The creature is considered “vulnerable” on the Red List of Threatened Species and is known to be non-aggressive towards humans despite its sharp teeth.
The beast has never before been found on a UK coastline (Image: Dan Snow/Solent News)
The deep-sea shark can grow up to 12 feet long and weigh up to 600 pounds, and it is estimated that there are fewer than 250 adult sand tiger sharks left in the world.
While most hunters only get so-called trophies from animals they have bred themselves, this individual is believed to have put up an easy root.
According to LadBible, Snow said: “We have recovered a good part [of the shark], but some trophy hunters got there just before us and … took its head off.”
The skull was stolen but the rest of the animal was left behind (Image: Solent News & Photo Agency)
“His head, dorsal fin and tail were removed, which is really disappointing because the scientists and marine biologists who sent troops there to try and secure the carcass in this once-in-a-lifetime find in British waters really expected to have the teeth, head for isotopic analyses.
Now trophy hunters have been urged to come forward in the hope that scientists can study the animal.
Although Snow admits that his favor can be “futile”.
He also shared a video of scientists collecting the organs, adding: “Please spread the word locally: we need that head. It is a once in a lifetime discovery of this type of shark in these waters.
“Scientists want to study the brain and other parts.”
Snow assured the hunters that they could keep the skull “no problem,” saying it was not against the law, but asked that they simply give the experts a chance to “let people see it, do some important science [and ] learn”. much about this animal’.
