WALKERS were stunned to come across a live shark beached on the shoreline at Sandbanks.

The shark - believed to be a smooth-hound - had stranded itself on the sand when beach goers came across it at around 5.30pm.

Kathy Hewis was among them and told the Echo: "It was only about 80cm long - but it was a shock to see it. We couldn't believe it.

"I've lived here 11 years and I've never seen a shark on the beach before - it must very unusual."

Kind hearted passers-by helped the shark back into the water - including Kathy's partner Penny Bisping who waded in waist deep in her clothes to help. But the shark tried to return to the beach further along the shore, and had to be turned away again.

Kathy added: "It kept going towards the beach - it seemed a bit dazed and didn't really know which direction to be going in. I'm not sure if it swam out to sea in the end or not."

Marine Conservation Society fisheries officer Sam Stone, said "It could be sick or have been injured and therefore got beached. If a shark is still alive you can try to return it to the sea. Flushing water through its gills for a minute in direction of head to tail may help it recover. I've tried this a few times and sometimes they swim away. Other times they just wash up again."

Fisheries scientist, Bev O'Kane, said he believed it to be a smooth-hound - Mustelus mustelus - but said there is currently confusion about the specific species present in British waters.

She added: "While it is still widely believed that both common and starry smooth-hounds are found around the UK there is growing evidence that it is not the case. The theory is that the spots on the back of the smooth hound are not an accurate way of determining species, and it is in fact only the starry smooth hound which are found in the UK – some with distinctive spots and some with no spots at all.

"There is evidence to back this up – Dr. Edward Farrell of University College Dublin carried out genetic analysis of 800 smooth hounds caught in the North East Atlantic and found that all of the specimens examined were starry smooth hounds, despite some having no spots on their back. However, it will take further research by universities and marine research institutes to determine beyond doubt whether there is one or two species of smooth-hound in British waters."