Ben Fogle searches for great white sharks in Britain using 30ft whale as bait

Ben Fogle has set off in search of great white sharks in UK waters - using a 30ft dead whale as bait.

The expedition will be filmed for a new ITV documentary being hosted by Fogle, and will show what happens when a whale dies and drops to the bottom of the ocean.

See also: The 10 easiest places to get eaten by a shark

The female humpback whale carcass was donated by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), which was unable to save it when it was found entangled near the village of Helmsdale in the north east of Scotland in June.

It was transported to Wales, where it was frozen using four tonnes of liquid nitrogen, to preserve it ahead of the experiment.

The carcass will be dragged though the Celtic Deep, between Ireland and Wales, and cameras will film the response from marine life, including sharks.

According to the Guardian, The Shark Trust says there has been more than 100 claims of sightings of great white sharks in the UK, with a "handful" of them being described as "credible".

John Richardson, the charity's conservation officer, said: "This is certainly an exciting project – possibly unprecedented in British waters – however the likelihood of encountering a white shark is incredibly low."

He added: "Nevertheless a decomposing whale may prove impossible to ignore for a number of other magnificent oceanic sharks that are found in British waters, including the blue shark, porbeagle, shortfin mako, thresher – possibly even a Greenland shark."

Speaking to Wales Online, Dr Andrew Brownlow, director of SMASS, said: "It seems a little weird that we agreed to do this, but compared to just being binned along with the waste of the north east of Scotland, it's actually brilliant."

He said it would be "amazing" to see what Fogle and the team find, adding: "The whale is a huge ecological resource so as it begins to sink it generates its entire own ecology, because it is a food source for lots of lots of creatures.

"The deep ocean environment is pretty sterile. There aren't a lot of nutrients, so putting something massive like that in, it's a huge injection of food energy into the sea."

1 / 8

Back in 1959, Robert Pamperin was diving for sea snails in La Jolla Cove, California when he was attacked by a shark. His diving companion Gerald Lehrer painted a vivid picture of the events that day. According to reports, Gerald turned to see his friend rising unusually high in the water. He dove below the surface and saw his friend waist-deep inside the shark’s jaws. Despite his efforts to distract the shark, Robert was dragged to the sea bed in the jaws of the 22-foot shark.

Related articles

Diver's close encounter with HUGE 20ft great white shark

Man finds 16-million-year-old tooth of Megalodon Shark in Croatia

Video: Shark and seal leap from water in dramatic chase