Basking shark washes ashore in Long Beach

A 10-foot basking shark washed ashore while still alive between New York and Pennsylvania Avenues on Wednesday afternoon, but died shortly after, said Lt. Eric Cregeen, the Long Beach Police Department’s public information officer.

“It was a harmless shark — not a man-eater,” Cregeen said. “It feeds on plankton and krill.”

Bystanders took footage of the shark thrashing about near a jetty at Washington Boulevard beach, when it was first seen earlier in the day by lifeguards and beach-goers as it swam up against a jetty in shallow water. 

The shark washed up on the beach was found further west at around 3 p.m.

"It was spotted on Lafeyette and Washington boulevards in the morning and then reappeared in the late afternoon on New York beach, and came to pass away on Arizona Beach," said one bystander who declined to be identified. "It had a large gash to the top of its head."

Joe Yaiullo, co-founder and curator of the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead, said the shark's arrival on the beach could have had a few causes.

“It could be any number of things,” Yaiullo said. “If they do get sick they sort of lose their way with motor skills and things.”

Yaiullo said the animal’s diet of plankton, small fish and shrimp could have played a role in the animal’s demise.

“They are usually at the surface, filter feeding,” Yaiullo said. “There is a possibility that there was a boat strike that damaged it.”

Cregeen said that the shark was removed from the beach and incinerated.