14 DAY TRIAL // This past weekend, folks living in Rhode Island got the chance to come fairly close to a basking shark that had washed ashore on Misquamicut Beach.
Sources say that the animal was first spotted on Sunday, and that it had most likely passed away some time before beaching.
Witnesses maintain that, as far as they could tell, the shark measured at least 28 feet (roughly 8.5 meters) in length.
Given the size of the animal, it need not come as a surprise that many rushed to see it and even take pictures of it.
Wildlife researchers explain that, although they reach such impressive sizes, basking sharks do not constitute a threat to humans. This is because they only feast on plankton.
It is to be expected that a necropsy will soon be carried out so as to determine why it was that this shark died and washed ashore in Rhode Island.