A huge 12ft (4.38 metres) shark has washed ashore near Inverness, leaving scientists baffled.

The juvenile basking shark was found dead on the beach at Portgordon, Moray.

Experts say that the cause of death has not been confirmed, but plastic pollution could be a factor.

Dr Lauren Smith, a marine biologist and co-founder of Shark & Skate Scotland, who examined the basking shark, told Daily Mail: ‘For the basking shark, it is impossible to say what the cause of death is at this stage.

‘Substantial sampling of organs and tissue may reveal more in due course.’

This marks the third dead shark in just weeks found on beaches within the same area of northeast Scotland. 

A nine-foot (2.74 metre) blue shark was found in October on St Ninian’s beach in Shetland.

Just days later, a rare six-foot (1.82 metre) porbeagle shark washed up on the rocks in Wick, near John O’Groats.

A massive 12-foot-long basking shark has washed up near Inverness on the beach of Portgordon, Moray

The massive shark is just a juvenile and could have grown to be twice as large. At this time, scientists cannot confirm the cause of death 

Basking sharks typically gather off Scotland’s coasts between May and October to feed on Plankton.

Dr Smith says that, despite its enormous size, the basking shark found in Portgordon is just a juvenile.

At their biggest, basking sharks can grow up to twice as large as this individual.

Due to the basking shark’s size and location, it has been left on the beach to decompose.

However, it may also be carried out or moved along the coast with the upcoming spring tide.

What makes this case so strange is that the shark appears to have been healthy when it died.

Dr Smith says: ‘Despite some superficial scarring on the exterior of the skin, the shark appeared in overall good condition.

‘There were indications that it had been feeding relatively recently, and all of the internal organs appeared normal.’

This marks the third shark beaching in just weeks, following the discovery of a rare six-foot-long porbeagle shark in Wick, near John O’Groats

The porbeagle had a large cut in its side, but experts who saw the shark say there is no indication that it was hit by a boat or tangled in fishing equipment 

In the past, when dead basking sharks have been discovered, autopsies have later revealed that they either died from disease or entanglement with fishing equipment.

Shane Wasik, founder and owner of Basking Shark Scotland, saw the basking shark in Portgordon and the porbeagle in Wick, and says he doesn’t think fishing gear is to blame.

Mr Wasik told Daily Mail: ‘There were no markings on the basking shark to indicate that there was any entanglement or physical damage, such as from a ship strike.’

Due to the distance between the locations, the cause of death is also unlikely to be related to that of the blue shark and porbeagle in October.

Since these sharks are all from different species and found quite far apart, Mr Wasik and Dr Smith both agree that their deaths are unlikely to be related.

However, the experts say that Scotland’s sharks are coming under increasing pressure from a number of different sources.

Last year, researchers reported a ‘worrying’ fall in the number of basking shark sightings in Scotland, as reported accounts fell to their lowest numbers on record.

Similarly, researchers from the University of Exeter reported that basking shark sightings had ‘notably decreased’ since their peak in 2004.

In October, a nine-foot-long blue shark was found washed up on the beach of St Ninian’s in Shetland. Experts say these sharks’ deaths are likely to be unrelated 

Blue sharks, like the one found at St Ninian’s, are one of the heavily fished sharks worldwide since their migration patterns overlap with commercial fishing vessels.

In 2020 alone, over 92,000 tonnes of blue sharks were caught around the world.

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Scientists issue urgent warning as once ‘harmless’ shark species kills snorkeler

While some shark species, including basking sharks, are protected from fishing in Scotland, these species still face many threats.

Most significantly, experts warn that the buildup of microplastics in the ocean could be having a harmful effect on large, slow-breeding species such as basking sharks.  

‘There are modern issues like the increase in plastics in the ocean, which break down and can accumulate in areas where they feed,’ Mr Wasik explains. 

Although it isn’t yet clear how much microplastics basking sharks consume, he says that there is ‘definitely a risk of it affecting sharks’.

HOW SHARKS EARNED THEIR RUTHLESS REPUTATION

Sharks are the most efficient predators on earth and have long terrified humans.

Their basic design has never really changed over the course of 200million years and they are considered to be complex and intelligent.

Their teeth are fear factor number one, with the great white’s teeth growing up to two-and-a-half inches in length.

Their prey are impaled on the pointed teeth of the lower jaw where they saw away sections of the flesh. The serrated edges of the teeth help with this process.

Their teeth are brittle and are constantly breaking off but are also constantly regrowing and on average there are 15 rows of teeth present in the mouth at one time.

Sharks are the most efficient predators on earth. Their basic design has never really changed over the course of 200million years

Their speed is fear factor number two. 

They are very fast in the water compared to humans with the mako shark able to reach an incredible 60mph in bursts.

The great white can reach speeds of 25mph. 

By comparison, 5mph is the fastest a human being can reach.

A shark’s power and size terrifies us, too.   

The great white shark can grow up to 20 feet and while it has no particular taste for humans even an exploratory bite is enough to cut a man in half.

Most sharks release a human after its first bite but sometimes, that’s all it take to kill a person.   

However, sharks have far more reason to be afraid of humans. We kill up to a million of them a year, often just cutting off their fins to make into soup and throwing the rest of the shark back into the water, where it starves or drowns.