Basking Shark Washes Up on Long Island Beach

A basking shark that washed up on a beach in Gilgo State Park, a few miles from crowded Jones Beach, has died, parks officials said.

"So far there evidence of how it died, externally it's completely fine," said David Chapman, of Stony Brook University. "It didn't die of old age, because they get to 35 or 40 feet."

This shark was about 20 feet long and weighed about a ton. Surfers who saw the hulking shark wash ashore said it was quite an imposing sight.

"I'm pretty amazed, I've been coming to these beaches for thirtysome-odd years, it's the first time I saw anything this big on the beach," said one beachgoer.

Basking sharks are common in the waters off Long Island, according to parks officials. Though quite huge and members of the same shark family that includes great whites, basking sharks are considered harmless because they have tiny teeth and eat plankton, according to the Marine Conservation Society.

Researchers will study the shark to figure out the cause of death. They will then bury the animal in the sand dunes.