Members of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) responded to a reported of a stranded shark on the shoreline in West Clare on Monday.
The basking shark, which was reported to have stranded at Baltard, near Donegal Point north of Kilkee, was confirmed to be a male measuring 6.3m in length.
When found, the basking shark was wrapped up in lobster pot rope having become entangled resulting in an unfortunate end for the mammal.
This is the 9th stranded basking shark reported to the IWDG during 2024 descirbed as ‘unprecedented numbers.’
An IWDG spokesperson said: “This interaction is hard to avoid, especially as we have had huge numbers of basking sharks in our inshore waters this spring and early summer.
Basking sharks are now protected under the Wildlife Act and it is illegal to wilfully interfere or kill sharks. However, this does not apply to incidental entanglement and it is important to try and work with fishers to avoid this interaction to the benefit of both parties.:
Tissue samples were collected and sent off for DNA analysis.
