On the trail of killer predator

Officials raised the alarm when 45 dead porpoises washed ashore with bite marks.

They feared the death toll could be the work of a large predator, possibly a giant and deadly mako shark.

Ron Carroll, from Sunderland Lifeboat Station, was called to the beach, where he was shown the body of a porpoise.

He said: "I was surprised because it had what looked like large bite injuries to its head and neck. The radius of the bite was about 10in."

The following day, Mr Carroll returned to the beach, and found that another porpoise had been washed ashore. This time the wound down its left side was 12in long.

Mr Carroll said: "There were what looked like very definite teeth marks in the wound and I have personally never seen anything like it before." He said the wounds were fresh, and dismissed the theory that the porpoises had come in too near the shore and had been injured on the rocks or that they had suffered propeller injuries..

He said: "These were very specific injuries and there is a theory that there may be a mako shark in the waters along the coastline."

It was only a theory, said Mr Carroll, who has also been a diver for many years and has never seen a mako in local waters. He said: "I really have not got a clue what has happened to the porpoises."

Experts believe the killer may not be a mako, but the similar porbeagle shark.

Marine expert Zara D'Aronville, of the Blue Reef Aquarium, in Tynemouth, said porbeagles were more likely to be found in the cool waters of the North Sea.

She said: "The porbeagle is a relative of the mako and the great white, famous as the shark from Jaws. It can grow up to two-and-a-half metres long and has very big teeth, but is unlikely to attack bathers."

She is relying on post-mortem examinations being carried out at the Natural History Museum to shed some light on the mystery.

Those investigations could take up to six months.

She advised people to be vigilant, and said there was also the likelihood that injured or sick porpoises could have been attacked by large grey seals or dolphins.

Rolf Williams, of the National Marine Aquarium, in Plymouth, said there could be a much less sinister explanation.

He said: "After the gales you have had, it would make sense that there would be a particularly large fall of carcasses on the beaches, which might otherwise come ashore one at a time.

"Makos do occur in our waters, but it is very rare. It could be true, but the evidence we currently have is that there are other, far more likely, explanations than mako sharks, the most probable of which is down to the prevailing winds.

"These porpoises could have been killed by being struck by boats or caught up in fishing nets. If the marks have been made by a shark, it is more likely to be a porbeagle, which is much more common in our waters."

Without a shark siting, theories abound, and if there are sharks in the water, they are likely to be long gone before proof is established by the post-mortem examinations.

Stay back, there's no fin to see here

ALONG the North-East coast yesterday, everything looked normal -surfers were surfing, fishermen were fishing and hardy outdoor types were walking the beaches.

No authority had ordered any Baywatch-style alerts, despite growing theories that a shark was laying prey to porpoises in the coastal waters.

At Seaham, it was business as usual.

The word, just as in the opening of Spielberg's film Jaws, had not yet got around. Like in fictional Amity Island, on the New England seaboard in the US, no one in Seaham believed they were in peril.

Further up the coast at Tynemouth, where other fatally injured porpoises have been washed ashore, surfers were continuing their acrobatics in the chilly waves.

On Seaham's beaches, dogs were still being persuaded to pursue sticks into the bitterly cold sea, blissfully unaware of any danger.

And although a call had gone out for people to be vigilant, those in authority said they had not been notified of any problem.

At Easington District Council, which is responsible for beaches at Seaham and Crimdon, a spokeswoman said:

"No one has contacted us to alert us of any danger, and if they do, we would defer the matter to the coastguard.

"But, at the moment, we have no reason to believe there is any cause for concern."

And she is probably right.

Unlike on the sun-drenched Amity Island, who in their right mind would willingly plunge into the sea at Seaham and Crimdon apart from the odd daft dog?

And how many Pamela Anderson lookalikes would be willing to strip off to safeguard us from a straying shark?