Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… Nope this isn’t Hollywood, this is England, Cornwall in fact.
A huge 9ft shark was spotted swimming in a harbour in St Ives, Cornwall, where officials are warning the public to stay out of the water.
The massive creature is thought to be either injured, or may have lost its bearings after chasing prey.
Experts believe – from footage submitted to them – it’s a blue shark, and have warned the public to keep their distance while it remains in the area.
Check it out in the video below:
John Richardson of the Shark Trust said:
[Blue sharks] are predominantly an oceanic, open water species, and not commonly found close to shore.
But it is certainly not unprecedented to see one in such shallow waters. To see a free-swimming blue shark close to shore like this is a real privilege.
If this shark remains in St Ives harbour, the Shark Trust advises people to give it plenty of space until it moves back offshore to its usual habitat.
Shark Trust are advising people to give the shark space to find its own way back to its usual habitat, as the confined nature of the harbour can make it difficult for the shark to navigate.
John continued:
We can only speculate on why this shark has come so close to shore. Possible explanations include injury or illness, or perhaps disorientation after following prey inshore? But this is speculation only.
Footage of the predator was captured by workmates, Archie Pickin and Harry Hocking, both 16, who were standing on the harbour slipway.
The pair were about to start work on the hire boats on Monday, (July 16), at about 9.30am when they first noticed it.
Archie said:
We heard someone say about a shark and we didn’t believe it at first. It doesn’t exactly happen every day. It was really big.
While Harry added:
It was swimming along for a good two to three minutes and went towards west pier before leaving the harbour.
A lot of people noticed and by the time it left, there were dozens of people watching from the harbour wall. People have already been saying they won’t be swimming now.
Blue sharks are the most heavily fished shark in the world. In European waters the species is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Also, as a word of warning, it probably isn’t a good idea to try and feed the shark either, as one woman recently found out the hard way.
Melissa Brunning, from Perth, was enjoying a holiday off the northwestern coast of Australia, cruising on a friend’s yacht, when she and her pals decided to feed the deceptively placid Tawny sharks swimming by their boat.
Instead of throwing the sharks some fish, Melissa decided to try and feed one by hand and, well, the inevitable happened:
With all the force of a ‘hoover,’ the hungry shark sucked at Melissa’s right index finger, with its teeth ‘shredding’ her flesh from the bone.
A friend quickly managed to pull her back to safety, and fortunately, Melissa only suffered a fractured finger from something which could’ve been a lot worse.
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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.