Trophy hunters steal head of shark that washed up on UK beach
The shark was an 'exceptionally rare' visitor to UK waters
Some unidentified trophy hunters are being urged to come forward after they stole a rare shark head that washed up on a beach in Hampshire.
History Channel's Dan Snow was among a group of volunteers headed to Lepe Beach in the early hours of the morning on 19 March, but it wasn't long before they realised that the shark - or at least a large part of it - had been taken.
Hear him explain the saga below:
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Most trophy hunters head out into the wilderness to do their own killing and find their so-called 'trophies', but the ones involved in this story apparently took a slightly lazier route, and just grabbed their animal from the beach as if it were a shiny shell.
The shark washed up over the weekend and Snow took to Twitter to share a snap of the beast, writing: "So I'm as shark positive as the next woke dude but what in the hell is this fish that just washed up on my local beach where I regularly swim without a care in the world?"
The creature was then identified as a smalltooth sand tiger shark, which is considered 'vulnerable' on the Red List of Threatened Species.
Snow later shared an update to say 'biologist friends' had asked him to secure the shark after they identified it as an 'exceptionally rare visitor to these shores' and, but added: "I failed."
In a desperate video shared online, Snow said that he and a team of volunteers 'didn't get there quick enough' to prevent the shark from being butchered by other people in the area.
"We have recovered a good chunk of [the shark] but some trophy hunters got there just before us and ... they took the head," Snow said.
"They chopped the head off, and the dorsal fin and the tail, which is really really disappointing because the scientists and marine biologists who sent us down there to try and secure the carcass in this once-in-a-lifetime find in British waters were really hoping they'd get the teeth, they'd get the head to do isotopic analysis."
Snow admitted his plea might be 'futile', but called out to whoever had taken the head to ask them to get in touch and allow the scientists to at least have a look at it.
He also shared a video of scientists collecting the organs, adding: "Please spread the word locally: we need that head. It's a once in a lifetime discovery of this kind of shark in these waters. Scientists want to study the brain and other bits."
Snow assured the hunters they could keep the skull 'no problem', saying it wasn't against the law, but requested that they simply gave experts the chance to 'let people have a look at it, do some great science [and] learn a lot about this animal'.
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Emily Brown