Swimming at night, you might see a surrounding constellation of eyes caught in a beam of light. Starry smoothhounds (Mustelus asterias) come close to the surface when the sea is calm, during summer this is often at night and dawn. These sharks aren’t particularly disturbed by swimmers and will swim around you, but don’t worry their interest in you is benign; their main food is crustaceans that they crush with a blunt bony plate in their mouth. If you see starry smoothhounds enjoy watching their movement, having flexible bodies lets them make very tight swimming turns. They are often spotted in groups and their turning skills let them swirl closely together.
You won’t find egg sacs from these sharks washed up on the beach, as they are viviparous and born in litters. While each litter has one mother there can be more than one donor of paternal DNA. In summer we are more likely to see them, not just because we spend more time in the sea, but also due to their seasonal summer movement into shallow water close to shore.