Along Misquamicut State Beach in Rhode Island, a twenty-eight foot-long dead basking shark settled on the sandy coastline. The animal's carcass compelled the local Mystic Aquarium to investigate, who have in turn organized a necropsy with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center to determine its cause of death, reports The Day (via Science World Report).
The Basking Shark is currently listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and falls under the protection of the National Marine Fisheries Service rule within US oceans. The entry explains that, despite conservationist efforts, "The Basking shark has been exploited for several centuries to supply liver oil for lighting and industrial use, skin for leather and flesh for food or fishmeal."
This species of shark is not particularly dangerous to humans, as it feeds through a filter, fish eggs, zooplankton, and small fish comprise the majority of its diet.
Disregarding unnatural causes of death, the basking shark typically lives until the age of fifty, according to the IUCN.
The Mystic Aquarium's website notes that the organization's "early researchers included William Kelley and Richard Segedi, whose pioneering efforts led to the formulation of artificial seawater used by public aquariums, home hobbyists, and marine facilities worldwide."
Equipped with its own research laboratory and staffed by several leading scientists, the aquarium appears well prepared for investigations of this nature.