The Starry smooth-hound shark which washed up alive on the Wadden Sea island of Vlieland two weeks ago has died.

The shark, a female, was taken to the Dolfinarium in Harderwijk to recuperate before efforts were made to release her back into the sea.

She was given intravenous food because she did not want to eat. Her carers now think the slight wound on her head proved fatal after an infection reached her brain.

The shark will undergo a post mortem examination at Utrecht University.

The shark, just over one metre long, was the biggest live shark ever to wash up on the Dutch coast.