What type of Shark washed ashore on Long Island?
Below is a picture of that 20 foot long basking shark that is alive on a Long Island beach. The basking shark is still alive, so look but don’t touch. But officials the say the shark, that is resting on its side, is slowly dying from an unknown disease, showing no signs of wounds. Researchers say sharks rarely come ashore to die. The basking shark is reportedly a protected species and the second largest fish in the seas after the Whale Shark: The world’s second-largest living fish (after the Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus, which grows to lengths of 50 ft [15 m] or more); individual Baskers 40-45 ft (12.2-13.7 m) long have been reported, unfortunately without supporting evidence; due to habit of swimming in groups nose-to-tail and plesiosaur-like form characteristic of partially decomposed specimens, believed responsible for many ’sea monster’ reports. Due to long history of commercial exploitation, its natural history is better known than most lamnoids. Highly vulnerable to directed fish
