Last week, wildlife and travel photographer Alex Aitkenhead photographed a juvenile common thresher shark that washed ashore at Sunset Beach just before Bloubergstrand.
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“It’s not often we get to see this remarkable shark; this is a Common Thresher Shark, using its long tail to stun its prey and they then consume it. Not sure why this juvenile washed up on our shores at Sunset Beach,” Alex shared on social media.
Thresher sharks are large Lamniformes, which means they are of an order of shark commonly known as mackerel sharks. Common threshers belong to the family Alopiidae that can be found in all temperate and tropical oceans around the world. There are three species in the family, all of which belong to the genus Alopias.
The three biological species are the common thresher, the pelagic thresher and the bigeye thresher.
The World Conservation Union has classified all three species of thresher shark as vulnerable to extinction.
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Picture: Alex Aitkenhead
