Photo by Quaid Lagan
A porbeagle shark has been found dead on the Northumberland coast, just days after six pilot whales died following a mass stranding on nearby Coquet Island. The 2m (6.5ft) shark was discovered at Hadston Rocks, south of Amble, on Thursday 24 September. It has since been recovered by British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) with the help of Amble fishermen.
Photographs of the shark circulated on social media on the morning it was found. A BDMLR spokesperson confirmed the charity was aware of the incident and said the animal was believed to have died before it washed ashore.
Debbie Harrison-Hardy of BDMLR said questions remained about how the porbeagle came to be stranded. She said the shark carried a bite mark and some claw marks that were most likely from a grey seal, but these were unlikely to have caused its death.
Firefighter Sean Straker, who was fishing nearby, helped with the recovery. “It took about an hour to get it off the beach, it was a bit of a struggle,” he told the BBC. “It looked like a mini great white, its teeth were about an inch big, it was great to look at.”
An unusual visitor close to shore
Porbeagles are closely related to the great white shark and can grow to nearly 3.7m (12ft), although attacks on humans are extremely rare. Professor Per Berggren, professor of marine megafauna conservation at Newcastle University, said the species was common in UK waters but that it was unusual for one to come so close to shore.
“Usually, they are several miles offshore in deeper water where they feed on mackerel, herring and squid,” he said. Berggren added that he was aware of three records of porbeagles in the last ten years. BDMLR noted that a smaller porbeagle had washed up on South Shields beach on 17 June.
The porbeagle is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The shark’s body will be handed to the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) in London, which will carry out a necropsy to establish the cause of death.
Six pilot whales lost on Coquet Island
The shark was found less than a week after a pilot whale stranding in the same area. On the afternoon of Sunday 20 September, BDMLR was alerted to a pod of around 40 pilot whales close to shore off Warkworth. The charity said the animals were “behaving in a distressed manner typically seen prior to a stranding event.” Medics aboard local boats attempted to herd the pod offshore. However, the whales remained tightly packed around one of the largest animals in the group, which was lying motionless on its side. The operation was stood down when darkness fell.
The following morning, RSPB staff on Coquet Island reported that potentially up to a dozen whales had stranded among the island’s rocky ledges. Six animals were found, five ashore and one afloat, and two of these were already dead. Tides limit access to the island to a couple of hours either side of high water. Combined with the treacherous terrain, this meant rescuers could not refloat the surviving whales before the water fell away.
“This is a distressing situation and our thoughts are with all those involved in the response,” an RSPB spokesperson said.
A veterinary assessment on Tuesday 22 September confirmed all six whales had died. All appeared to be female, a mix of adults and juveniles. Searches using spotters, drones, Civil Air Support aircraft and vessels have found no further trace of the rest of the pod. BDMLR said this was not the same group of pilot whales herded out of the River Thames the same weekend. The distance between the two locations was too great for the animals to cover in 24 hours.
A social species at risk
North East Cetacean Project coordinator Martin Kitching said the pod’s presence off the north-east coast was itself a puzzle. “We don’t know how they’ve ended up on the North East, they are deep water animals and really should be off the continental shelf in the Atlantic,” he said. “Unfortunately when we spotted them on Sunday we worried that this would not end well, they appeared confused and unsure what to do.”
Independent marine mammal researcher Lavinia Mitchell said there could be many explanations, including the whales following prey or responding to changing conditions at sea. She pointed to the animals’ strong social bonds as a key factor in why strandings often involve whole groups.
“Their instinct is to stay together, and that can unfortunately work against them when something goes wrong,” she explained. “If one whale gets into difficulty, the others don’t necessarily leave it behind. That very strong family bond can put the whole group at risk.”
Mitchell highlighted the 2023 mass stranding in Scotland, in which an entire pod of 55 pilot whales died. “Investigators thought difficulties experienced by one female giving birth may have been enough to keep the wider group with her,” she said.
Awaiting answers
The CSIP will carry out the shark necropsy. Where conditions allow, the whales may also be recovered for post-mortem examination, which BDMLR says could help explain why the pod got into difficulty.
“At the moment we simply don’t know, and I think that’s important… the fact that we’re seeing it is interesting; working out why is the next question,” Mitchell continued.
BDMLR is asking anyone who sees pilot whales in the area, at sea or stranded, to call its rescue hotline on 01825 765546.