Just last week, June 28, a huge great white shark was spotted off the coast of Majorca.
Now, video footage has emerged of the massive shark swimming around the coast, displaying the huge size of the creature.
Filmed by conservation group Alnitak, the video shows the 5m shark swimming in waters close to the national park of Cabrera Archipelago in the balearic islands, and confirms the presence of this type of shark in Spanish waters for the first time in at least 30 years.
You can watch it here:
In a post on Facebook, the conservation group wrote:
Historical sighting of white shark in balearic waters!
This morning on Thursday, 28 June 2018 at 10am, the scientific expedition Alnitak […] have located and documented 8 miles from Cabrera Island for 70 minutes the presence of a white shark (Carcharodon Carcharias) of 5 meters in length in waters close to the national park of Cabrera Archipelago in the balearic islands, Spain.
In recent years there were possible unconfirmed sightings and various rumours, but this is the first scientific observation of the presence of carcharodon in Spanish waters for at least 30 years.
On this occasion, this historic sighting has been photographed, filmed and contemplated by a crew of 10 people from five countries. (Translated)
The 16.5-foot shark was spotted by biologist Ricardo Sagarminaga Van Buiten and biologist Fernando López-peepers, who were on an expedition.
López-peepers recorded the encounter and in a Facebook post he wrote:
The presence of large white sharks in Spanish waters was a constant rumor, as well as historical evidence ratified by photographs and toponymy across the Costa, levantina and Catalan Coast.
For many years, however, it had not been possible to document how this morning was done on board the töftevaag. [sic]
His post claimed that the great white shark was spotted off 8 miles from Cabrera Island, for 70 minutes the 5 metre shark swam through waters ‘close to the national park of Cabrera Archipelago in the Balearic Islands (Spain)’.
While the rare sight is remarkable it does raise a few concerns as great whites are the apex predators of the ocean. They are notable for their size with larger female individuals growing to about 6.1 metres in length.
A study dating back to 2014 found that their lifespan is an estimated 70 years, thus making it one of the longest-lived cartilaginous fish currently known to marine biologists.
Meanwhile in the UK, it may not be a great white, but a team of kayakers encountered another huge shark in Port Erin Bay in the Isle of Man.
Identified as a basking shark, and posing no threat to humans, the animal swam open-mouthed. Its fin protruded from the water in classic shark-horror movie fashion, and caused waves which rocked the group’s kayaks.
Basking sharks are the second largest fish alive, and have been known to grow up to a staggering 32 feet long. They are not typically thought to be a danger to humans, feeding on plankton as the shark in Port Erin Bay did.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.