Dead N.Y. basking shark will be studied

BABYLON, N.Y., July 15 (UPI) -- An enormous, 26-foot basking shark that startled onlookers by washing up alive on a New York beach will be studied, officials say.

The huge shark was barely alive when it came ashore Tuesday on Long Island's Gilgo Beach near Babylon, N.Y., but has since died and samples from its carcass will be sent to researchers around the world eager to study the animal, whose numbers have been in serious decline, Newsday reported.

"Most of the shark will be buried, but a large number of biological samples will go to biologists all over the country and world to study," said Demian Chapman, assistant professor at Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

New York state parks spokesman George Gorman said the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation will determine the cause of death of the shark, estimated to weigh at least a ton.

Astonished onlookers gathered around the shark, snapping pictures. One of them, Susan Webb of Westchester, N.Y., told Newsday, "I can't believe something so big is in our waters."