6-meter monster: a fisherman found an endangered shark with a strange body on the beach (5 photos)

Fisherman Jason Moyes from Sydney, Australia, was walking along the Seven Mile Beach in Shoalhaven, New South Wales, when he came across a strange creature with a tail longer than its body.





Jason, a second-generation fisherman, took several photos of the dead carcass and later identified it as a thresher shark, a rare deep-sea species that is critically endangered.

These predators grow to be about 20 feet long. They have large, oblique fins, and the top of their tail makes up about half their total length.



Thresher sharks are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are targeted by hunters for their meat, which is considered particularly valuable.





"Sharks are aggressive predators at the top of the food chain, feeding on schools of smaller fish, such as herring and mackerel, and less commonly, squid and seabirds," explains a spokesperson for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA).



Incidentally, photographer Alex Aitkenhead came across another thresher shark while jogging last year.

"It was in very good condition - no damage or injuries. However, the shark had no eyes, which is common since the carcass had been in the water for several days after death," Aitkenhead explained.