A marine rescuer said more investigations were needed after a shark was found dead on a beach soon after six pilot whales died after becoming stranded in the same area.
The 6.5ft (2m) porbeagle shark was found dead at Hadston Rocks, south of Amble, Northumberland, on Thursday and has since been recovered by British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and Amble fishermen.
Earlier in the week the six whales died after a pod of about 40 distressed whales was seen near Amble.
Debbie Harrison-Hardy, from BDMLR, said there were questions about how the porbeagle had come to be stranded. The sharks are listed as endangered in some parts of the world.
She said the shark had a bite mark and some claw marks which were more than likely to have been from a grey seal, but that was unlikely to be the cause of death.
Firefighter Sean Straker was fishing nearby on Thursday night and helped with the rescue.
“It took about an hour to get it off the beach, it was a bit of a struggle,” he said.
“It looked like a mini great white, its teeth were about an inch big, it was great to look at.”