Giant 330kg shark caught in Kavala, Macedonia (photo)

It is not a man eater

Fishermen in Kavala, the largest eastern port in eastern Macedonia, caught nearly 330-kilo shark.

It is most likely a basking shark, “pilgrim shark” as it is called in Greece. The basking shark is the second-largest living shark, after the whale shark, and one of three plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Adults typically reach 7.9 m in length. It is usually greyish-brown, with mottled skin.

It is a commercially important fish, as a source of food, oil from the liver, fins and feed. Its over-exploitation has reduced its populations.