Dan Snow calls for return of head of 'rare' shark found dead on beach

TV historian Dan Snow leading calls to return the head of ‘rare’ shark found dead on beach near New Forest

  • Dan Snow appealed to the thief saying ‘its yours to keep’ after scientists study it 
  • The smalltooth sand tiger was found by walkers on Lepe Beach on Saturday

TV historian Dan Snow is leading calls for the return of the head and tail of an ‘exceptionally rare’ shark which was found dead on his local beach.

The shark, believed to be a smalltooth sand tiger, was found by walkers on Lepe Beach near Southampton over the weekend. 

But before the body could be recovered by biologists planning to study it, the shark was ‘butchered overnight’ with its head and tail removed.

Mr Snow, 44, now has called for the creature’s remains to be returned so they can be studied by experts, telling the shark thief: ‘The scientists want to have a look at it and then it’s yours to keep.’

The shark, believed to be a smalltooth sand tiger, was found by walkers on Lepe Beach near Southampton over the weekend


But before the body could be recovered by biologists planning to study it, the shark was ‘butchered overnight’ with its head and tail removed. TV historian Dan Snow (right) now has called for the creature’s remains to be returned so they can be studied by experts

The walkers found stumbled upon the shark carcass on Saturday on a beach in the New Forest.

A photo shared by Mr Snow on Twitter shows it’s head and tail were still attached at the time of discovery.

The historian claimed he was asked by his biologist friends to ‘secure’ the ‘exceptionally rare visitor’ so they could study it.

‘I failed,’ he tweeted yesterday of his quest. ‘We went to secure the shark for science last night. But we were too late! 

‘The head, tail and fin were grabbed before I get assemble a big enough team to drag it off the beach to the nearest road.

‘It is not illegal to take parts from dead fish washed ashore so there’s no judging but if you took the head please get in touch, let the scientists have a look and then it’s yours to keep.’ 

A spokesman for The Shark Trust described the discovery as an ‘exciting’ find.

He said: ‘Although not able to examine the shark first-hand, several photographs have been circulated, and Shark Trust staff and colleagues identified the shark as a smalltooth sandtiger (Odontaspis ferox).

‘Despite their circumglobal distribution, smalltooth sandtigers are seldom encountered and considered naturally rare.’

‘In the north-east Atlantic their range reaches to the French coast at the top of the Bay of Biscay, making this report an exceptional one.’

The walkers found stumbled upon the shark carcass on Saturday on a beach in the New Forest. A photo shared on Twitter shows it’s head and tail were still attached at the time of discovery

The historian made an appeal to the thief, saying: ‘It is not illegal to take parts from dead fish washed ashore so there’s no judging but if you took the head please get in touch, let the scientists have a look and then it’s yours to keep’

Smalltooth sandtiders are usually found towards the seabed and considered a globally vulnerable species, with numbers thought to be in decline. 

The expert claimed that large smalltooth sandtigers, which can grow to 4 meters in length, have long, slender teeth and feed on small fish and squid. 

The spokesman also explained that the shark’s head is particularly important to their research as it ‘holds the key to unlocking intricate details of the shark’s life, even from before birth.’

‘Sighting records like this help shape our knowledge of species distributions,’ he said. ‘This sighting may have been a vagrant, but by maintaining records of occasional finds new patterns may start to emerge, making all records important.’

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