This is the extraordinary moment a gang of sharks circled divers at a popular family beach destination in Cornwall, England.
The pack, consisting of a whopping 20 sharks, were papped knocking about off the coast of Penzance, and were believed to have been enticed by the warm weather.
Charles Hood, who runs Blue Sharks Cornwall, caught the amazing moment while giving punters the ‘ultimate shark adventure in Cornish waters.’
He told Cornwall Live:
There have always been blue sharks in Cornish waters but they’ve definitely increased in the past couple of years.
We normally see ten when we go out, five on a poor day but around 20 on a good day. I would say there’s usually double the amount around that you see.
Charles’ shark-spotting tours have proved a great success despite, you know… Jaws. Hell, even some celebrities have gotten on board.
Mr Hood even revealed how BBC presenter, Steve Backshall, once popped over to experience one of his tours, which have been profiled on The One Show and Countryfile, no less.
Charles continued:
These are specialist whole boat charter only full-day trips with us venturing quite some distance from shore.
The blues can appear within minutes or up to a couple hours but once around the RIB they will often stay for a few hours at a time.
Encounters are best photographed either using a pole-cam or snorkelling.
Fancy yourself quite the shark enthusiast? Well, you can easily experience one of Charles’ tours should you find yourself in the Penzance area.
‘These are specialist whole boat charter only full day trips with us venturing quite some distance from shore and involve chumming using a special concoction of ‘rubby dubby’,’ he writes on his website.
The site continues:
The blues can appear within minutes or up to a couple hours but once around the RIB they will often stay for a few hours at a time. Encounters are best photographed either using a pole-cam or snorkelling.
If entering the water it is mandatory that you are totally dressed in dark colours, including HOOD, GLOVES and BOOTS and you do so entirely at your own risk.
Avoid anything with white, yellow, shiny widgets & put acrylic camera housings on sticks).
However, he does have a warning for those contemplating the experience:
This is not a trip for the inexperienced! The chum is very smelly, the bobbing around of the RIB can cause seasickness if you suffer from it easily and it is not possible to return to shore unless you want to end the whole trip.
There will also be an element of angling for bait fish so if this would offend then please don’t book. Anyone under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian, please advise of anyone under 18 when booking.
So there we have it. If you have a love of things sharks, or even just all things Cornwall, I assume this tour is a must.
If not, don’t worry. It’s natural to not want to be around sharks in the middle of the sea. That’s life!
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