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The basking shark is common in Irish waters. Shutterstock

A complete list of the sharks in Irish waters has just been published

The leafscale gulper and the Portuguese dogfish are but two of 71.

MARINE BIOLOGISTS HAVE put together a comprehensive list of all of the sharks present in Irish waters and have looked at how many are endangered.

The new New Red List of Cartilaginous Fish says that Irish waters contain 71 species of shark, about half of the number that live in European waters. This includes a broad range of sharks, skates, rays and rabbitfish.

Of the 71 different species occurring in Irish waters, there was sufficient data to assess the numbers of 58 of them.

Of the 58 species, six  were assessed as ‘critically endangered’. They are:

The Portuguese dogfish, the common skate, the flapper skate, the porbeagle shark, the white skate and the angel shark.

A further five species were assessed as ‘endangered’. They are:

The leafscale gulper shark, the basking shark, the common stingray, the undulate skate and the spurdog.

The main human impacts on the threatened species are over-exploitation by commercial fisheries and habitat destruction and disturbance.

The report also finds that recreational angling is a potential threat to cartilaginous fish. but that in Irish waters angling for these species is almost exclusively on a catch-and-release basis.

The assessment was carried out by an all-Ireland team from academic and governmental teams both north and south.

Complete details of the sharks and where they are most common in Irish waters can now be found on the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s website.

Read: Man left in freezing shark infested water for six hours after being dragged out of boat by fish >

Read: Man who was in metal cage that shark broke into still thinks they’re ‘beautiful and cute’ >

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    Mute Yorkie1892
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    Sep 14th 2017, 11:08 AM

    Thankfully no one was killed or seriously injured! Thinking back of the 2005 crash in Meath..

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    Mute Fank Pulman
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    Sep 14th 2017, 11:07 AM

    Donegal again¡¡¡

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    Mute Jonathan Kerr
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    Sep 14th 2017, 11:36 AM

    @Fank Pulman: what do you mean donegal again? Everytime theres multiple road deaths in anyother county its, soo sad this, rip that, but as soon as its in donegal its do they even know how to drive up there? Same crap everytime with you lot.

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    Mute Dave Murray
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    Sep 14th 2017, 12:29 PM

    @Jonathan Kerr: “with you lot”??

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    Mute Jonathan Kerr
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    Sep 14th 2017, 12:54 PM

    @Dave Murray: most people here making comments on the journal.ie can’t stand donegal.

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    Mute Michael Hayden
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    Sep 14th 2017, 12:57 PM

    @Jonathan Kerr: the point been made is that you complained that everyone tars Donegal with this big brush. yet you have tarred all journal commantators with the same brush. Pot kettle black sort of situation

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    Mute Jonathan Kerr
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    Sep 14th 2017, 1:31 PM

    @Michael Hayden: ok im sorry about that.

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    Mute ed w
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    Sep 14th 2017, 2:01 PM

    @Fank Pulman: what do you mean ? Plenty of road deaths this week unfortunately were you on those saying cork or mayo again.

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    Mute Fabio Dillon
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    Sep 14th 2017, 2:32 PM

    @Jonathan Kerr: for a county of a population no more than 160k…. Donegal has way too many accidents. Standards of driving and or the roads must be sub standard.

    Can’t argue with statistics.

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    Mute Fabio Dillon
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    Sep 14th 2017, 2:48 PM

    @Fabio Dillon: there were 10 fatalities on Donegal roads in ’16. 21 in Dublin. 158k ppl in Donegal and 1.8 million in Dublin.

    Donegal roads are a joke.

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    Mute Pat Troy
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    Sep 14th 2017, 11:21 AM

    Make everyone in that county resit their driving test.

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    Mute Fank Pulman
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    Sep 14th 2017, 11:27 AM

    @Pat Troy: or ban all vehicles¿!

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    Mute Noel James Doherty
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    Sep 14th 2017, 11:33 AM

    @Pat Troy: glad no one seriously injured in this incident. Jog on Pat

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    Mute Noel James Doherty
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    Sep 14th 2017, 11:42 AM

    @Fank Pulman: please explain

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    Mute Jonathan Kerr
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    Sep 14th 2017, 11:51 AM

    @Pat Troy: yes cause its not like theres car crashes in any other county in ireland.

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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Sep 14th 2017, 1:42 PM

    @Pat Troy: Or maybe fix the roads which chuck vehicles off them as soon as a wheel slips off when someone coming the other way refuses to move over.

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    Mute liosa ni chiarain
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    Sep 14th 2017, 2:40 PM

    I live in donegal the roads are the problem not the drivers , the government needs to fix our roads too many Potholes and bad attempts to fix them on the cheap rain washes the temporary fillings out of potholes, i am relived nobody injured badly.

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