A huge basking shark has washed up on a South Ayrshire beach over the weekend.
The creature was discovered at Maidens on Sunday, June 30, with social media footage appearing to show the shark caught in rope.
The shark was still on the beach on Tuesday morning, with coastguard teams called out to the scene on Sunday.
One woman who saw the incident said it appeared that the shark had become tangled in rope.
**Basking shark entanglement** Yesterday evening a basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) washed ashore in Ayrshire with a...
Posted by Ellie MacLennan on Monday 1 July 2024
"It was bobbing around in the water and we couldn't tell if it was dead or alive," she told Ayrshire Live.
"I wanted to try to help if it was alive and floundering, so I put on a wetsuit and got in the water to check.
"Sadly it was dead, but it looked very complete, a recent death. It was tangled in a long loop of rope, in its mouth and caught around its tail.
"Maybe it got tired trying to free itself. Very sad."
A spokesperson for HM Coastguard said: "Just before 8.45pm on Sunday, June 30, HM Coastguard had a report of a beached cetacean at Maidens beach.
"Coastguard rescue teams from Girvan and Ballantrae were sent. British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the South Ayrshire Council were alerted."
Basking sharks are regular sights around the Scottish coast, and can grow to more than eight metres long.
