Tracy Marcus of Cornell Cooperative Extension says the shark was likely dying from some kind of illness. There are no propeller wounds that might have come from a boat, nor were there any puncture wounds on the animal, which was barely breathing as it rolled shore.
The basking shark, which are a common sight in the waters off Long Island, washed ashore on a town beach a few miles east of Jones Beach. Basking sharks are not considered dangerous. They eat plankton.
Marcus estimates the shark weighs about a ton. She says it is unusual for an ailing basking shark to come ashore. Usually they die in the ocean.
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