Urgent warning after dozens of sharks wash up on UK beach - and no one knows why

EXPERTS have issued an urgent warning after dozens of sharks washed up on a UK beach – and no one knows why.

Nearly 30 starry smooth-hound sharks were found scattered on Prestatyn beach in Denbighshire, north Wales on Tuesday morning.

Marine expert Gem Simmons warned beach-goers to avoid touching or moving the washed-up sharks.

She told the BBC: "To find one or two is normal, but so many is worrying."

Gem added that her efforts to take samples from the sharks' gills had been thwarted by hungry herring gulls.

Starry smooth-hounds are also known as gummy sharks because of their distinctive lack of sharp teeth.

They mainly feed on shellfish and crustaceans – with their "starry" name coming from their speckled white spots.

Weighing no more than 5kg, they live in shallow UK coastal waters and measure between 1 and 1.5 metres long.

Expert Gem said that sharks have also washed up in smaller numbers along the stretch of coast between Rhyl and Talacre.

Prestatyn beach is known mainly for inspiring Philip Larkin's thornily romantic short poem "Sunny Prestayn".

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The poem is about a poster of a model sunbathing at the beach left "snaggle-toothed and boss-eyed" by yobs.

Larkin wrote that the model was "too good for this life" – much like the beautiful sharks who have now washed up in Prestatyn.

It comes after a 6ft shark washed up alive on a popular UK beach, terrifying sunbathers.

The giant dorsal fin of a great white shark was also spotted poking out of the sea off the UK coast.

The Sun visited an amazing British island which has huge sharks swimming offshore and has hundreds of wild wallabies.