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Last weekend these pics were taken in shallow water close to shore in the southeast coast of Dominican Republic .
The specimen was about 8-9 feet long . I looks similar to a baskin shark but the end of the head looks like small trunk , this is because is a juvenil or is a different specie ?
Any help will be appreciated.
Here are the pics
another pic
last one
looks like someone sewed the head of a baby elephant on a shark body. I've never seen anything like that.
i think basking is a good guess. kinda warm though?!
Juv. basking shark, as thought.
A weird sort! 
Cool. How come no one jumped in to take a pic?
Yeah, that is a basker. Nice viz to see one in. In Italy, when seen in the Med, they call them Elephant Sharks - you second shot really shows why.
Alex
Damn That is cool. Seriously, someone must have jumped in to get some images.
Nice find!
Cheers
Todd
Anyone want to take a guess at reason why it is in the Caribbean ?
They haven't come over to eat our Lionfish obviously !
As suggested earlier I was under the impression they liked much more temperate waters, is that just a case of where they are not where they can be ?
Sadly i was not there , pics. were taken by a friend of a friend of mine. Yes will be great to have the opportunity to have such an opportunity , seems that juveniles basking sharks are very rare so see .
After further search found this info at www.baskingshark.org
"One curious anomaly is the shape of the snout of juveniles which is long and hook like at birth and for the first year of life. It is believed that a hooked snout makes feeding in the womb and for the first few months of life easier by increasing water flow through the mouth."
Very interesting the fact that this specimen seems to be very young and to be found so far from the adults normal ( or known ) habitats .
This is the 2nd time in 7 years that a juvenile basking shark is found in the area . Last one, in 2002 , was found stranded in the beach at a river mouth ( Rio Chavon ) , was a 3 meters specimen and was reported as the most southerly latitude found for this specie .
I'm pretty sure I saw one while swimming in the waters off Goucester, MA in 1978 or 1979 I think ... I was just a kid and had never heard of a basking shark ...
You can bet I swam to shore REAL fast after I saw the BUS swim by ... it was HUGE!
Nobody believed me.
Very interesting also the fact that first sighting report was in April/15/2002 and this one was in April 19 .
Interesting.
very cool find! I never knew juvenile basking sharks looked like that. thanks for posting
That is really wild. We've got tons of basking sharks up here in New England, but I've never seen one this small or with that curled snout. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the post Alex , that's a very interesting news !
very cool find! I never knew juvenile basking sharks looked like that. thanks for posting
Same here. 
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