Yet another shark has been spotted lurking around Spain’s beaches – terrifying locals and tourists alike.
British holidaymakers were enjoying a relaxing day on Malaga beach, soaking up the sun, when the creature was spotted by the waves.
The shark’s presence, just off the coast of the resort of Torremolinos, caused British holidaymakers to flee from the water and back to safety on the coast.
Dozens of people lined the beaches, peering across the water to see the shark’s dorsal fin sticking out of the waves.
This is now the fifth sighting of a shark off the Spanish coast in a month, just days after another panic broke out on a Pontevedra beach.
British holidaymakers were enjoying a relaxing day on Malaga beach, soaking up the sun, when the creature was spotted by the waves
The shark lingered off the beach for about half an hour before a lifeguard encouraged it to swim back out to sea
Emily McEwan, took to social media after her holiday was interrupted by the panic over the shark.
She said The sun“It was a bit of a surprise because we’ve all seen movies like Jaws, but you never expect to be in the sea when you see that fin.”
She said the sighting occurred on the morning of June 27. She had been on a family vacation after giving birth to a baby boy.
“A crowd started to gather on the beach while we were in the sea and I thought, ‘I don’t like that, I don’t like that’ because when a crowd gathers on the beach it usually means there is something is wrong,’ said Mrs McEwan.
“And then I saw a tail fin to my right. Then a lifeguard came out and he went up and down for a while.”
She said the shark then lingered off the beach for about half an hour before a lifeguard encouraged it to swim back out to sea.
“When I saw that shark I thought ‘this can’t be true, like this isn’t happening. We’re only in Spain and these are really shallow waters. It can’t be possible.’
‘There was also a beach bar, the staff came down and said ‘don’t worry, it’s just a turtle, don’t panic’.
‘But it didn’t really look like a turtle.
“We’ve all seen that fin and everyone came out of the water, as if no one was brave enough to stay in with it.
Dozens of people lined the beaches peering across the water to see the shark’s dorsal fin sticking out of the waves
The presence of sharks just off the coast of Torremolinos caused British holidaymakers to flee from the water and back to safety on the coast.
“Nobody got hurt, we all just stood and watched it swim.
“I don’t know if he was in distress or got stuck on something, but he kind of swung around.
“The shark didn’t really show interest in us while we were in the water, which was good.”
The new mom said she was trying to figure out what species it was, but was still none the wiser.
She posted the video of the sighting on social media, captioning the clip: “Heading to the beach for what was supposed to be a nice relaxing day.”
This is now the fifth sighting of a shark off the Spanish coast in a month.
A previous sighting was seen from a jetty on the island of Arousa in the Galician province of Pontevedra, home to spectacular white-sand beaches and small coves popular with tourists and locals alike.
This time it was a blue shark, which rarely bites humans but has been involved in deadly attacks in the past.
Footage showed the shark’s telltale fin appearing above the waterline as it approached a fishing boat.
The clear shallow water made it very easy to see.
A blue shark was spotted on Wednesday morning at a jetty on the island of Arousa in the Galician province of Pontevedra.
It comes just days after a shark approached the shoreline of a beach on the Costa Blanca
Local fisherman Rogelio Santos Queiruga insisted that the tintorera, which appeared to have been injured by a harpoon, was in more danger than humans.
He admitted, “If we try to touch it, it can hurt us with its teeth or rough skin.”
But he added that these types of sharks are not great white sharks or tiger sharks, which can be very aggressive: “The fact that they are seen close to shore is good news.
“It’s a sign that on the high seas, where they usually live, they are recovering from decades of overfishing.”
The shark seen in Pontevedra province is described as being about five feet long and thought to be young and immature.
Fishermen filmed it swimming in the swallow waters, as its presence so close to the shoreline is rare.
The water temperature in the area was around 20 degrees Celsius, which is higher than normal.
The shark seen in Pontevedra province is described as being about five feet long and thought to be young and immature
This time, the kind of species seen was a blue shark, which rarely bites humans, but has been involved in deadly attacks in the past
Footage showed the shark’s telltale fin appearing above the waterline as it approached a fishing boat
Earlier in June, a full-grown blue shark measuring about two meters in length caused a panic off the Costa Blanca beach of Aguamarina in Orihuela Costa, south of Alicante.
Swimmers were filmed trying to make it to safety through waist high water as it approached the shoreline.
Lifeguards blew their whistles to warn locals and holidaymakers about the big fish and urged them to get out of the sea as soon as possible.
A woman, believed to be an elderly person who was rescued from the water by Good Samaritans, reportedly had a panic attack after realizing the shark was next to her.
It washed up dead the next day among the rocks on La Caleta beach in Cabo Roig, a few miles away.
The same day it turned out that the same shark species had been spotted in the port of Ciutadella on Menorca.
Fishermen filmed it swimming in the swallow waters, as its presence so close to the shoreline is rare
A cow shark also approached a boat belonging to a group of fishermen at Cap de Formentor near Puerto Pollensa in Mallorca in early July.
The men shut off the boat’s engine so as not to injure him.
Blue sharks rarely bite humans, but have been involved in several bite incidents, four of which have reportedly ended fatally.
A blue shark was blamed for an attack on a holidaymaker in Elche near Alicante in July 2016.
The 40-year-old victim was rushed to hospital and received stitches to a wound in his hand.
First aiders described the bite as “major” and said he emerged from the sea with blood flowing from the injury.
In August 2018, tourists fled the sea in panic after a blue shark, one of the most common in Spain, showed up off the overcrowded Mallorcan beach of Calas de Mallorca on the island’s east coast.
In April, a six-foot-long shark, also believed to be a tintorera, was filmed in the surf off Mallorca’s southeast coast at a nearby beach called Cala Llombards.
Initial reports indicated that the earlier shark was a tintorera, or blue shark, measuring about two meters in length
The images of it in shallow water showed that it was clearly disoriented.
A Spanish woman watched as its telltale fin appeared above the water’s surface and moved in the clear water towards the shoreline before almost stranding on the sand.
She could be overheard being knocked on its side in the swallow water and swinging its tail around in an attempt to get back out to sea: “This one is going to get stuck here eventually.
“We have to get it out of the water, it stays where it is.”
His efforts eventually paid off and it was filmed swimming back to deeper water before disappearing.
Last month, Russian tourist Vladimir Popov, 23, was filmed being attacked by a tiger shark and dragged underwater off Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
His body parts were later removed from the predator’s abdomen after it was bludgeoned to death by beachgoers.
Biologist Juan Antonio Pujol told a Spanish newspaper after it emerged that the blue shark seen off Aguamarina beach last Thursday had been found dead on a nearby beach: “To encounter something like that when you swim in the water makes an impression, but you have to stay . calm because they are not aggressive.’