British family ‘terrified’ after being surrounded by a shark on a Spanish beach – as mum, 27, describes how the predator ‘zigzagged’ in the water and chased her dad
- Holidaymaker Jessica Kenny was paddling in the sea at Playa Arenal d’en Castell
- She soon realized the shark was following dad Darren, 57, near some buoys
A British family were left ‘terrified’ after being surrounded by a shark near a beach at a popular holiday resort in Spain.
Holidaymaker Jessica Kenny, 27, was paddling with her four-year-old son in the sea at Playa Arenal d’en Castell, Menorca, when she spotted a shark ‘zigzagging’ towards them.
She quickly realized it was following her father, Darren, 57, who swam ahead towards some buoys on Monday.
Passersby started shouting and calling for the lifeguard, who called for help and raised red flags.
Children were hastily evacuated from the sea, but others were allowed to get close enough to film the shark.
A British family were left ‘terrified’ after being surrounded by a shark near a beach at a popular holiday resort in Spain
Passersby started shouting and calling for the lifeguard, who called for help and raised red flags
Jessica, a GP receptionist from Liverpool, said: ‘I was only waist deep with my son – while my dad had swam ahead.
‘We laughed and joked because it was cold.
‘Then we saw something strange sticking out of the water: we joked and said it must be a shark.
‘But we didn’t really believe it.
‘It was quite strange, zigzagging around us like that.
‘As it got closer we realized the thing sticking out of the water was a fin.
“We were like, ‘oh my god, that’s a shark.'”
The mother-of-two ran out of the water with her son – while others laughed on the beach.
But Jessica realized the shark – believed to be a blue shark – was heading towards Darren, who had started swimming back to the beach.
She said: ‘We lost sight of it when we turned around.
‘But then we saw him following my father back to the beach. It circled around him, but it didn’t apply to him, if that makes sense.
‘Honestly it was so scary, but my father loves everything that has to do with the sea.
“When we got back to the beach, he was so excited.”
Sharks are quite common in the region and often come to the coastline
Arenal d’en Castell beach in Menorca, a popular destination where sharks also live
Jessica and Darren tried to calm her son, who was ‘a bit upset and worried’ after the ordeal.
“My father told him how lucky he was to have seen a shark at the age of four,” she added. ‘In all his 57 years he had never seen one.
“They decided to call him Freddie.”
The family left the beach at 4.35pm, an hour after the shark was first spotted – and lifeguards were still trying to chase it away.
Darren, a truck driver, said: ‘It was such a surreal experience.
‘I’ve always wanted to see a shark, and even go snorkeling in Jamaica and Cuba, just to spot one.
‘I can’t believe I swam with it in Menorca with my daughter and grandson.’
The shark sighting is believed to be the first so far this year near a Costa beach.
In June 2018, a shark was spotted on the same beach when swimmers were also not allowed to enter the water all afternoon.