A SHARK has been sighted just a few feet from a UK shoreline at two different beaches in recent days.
Footage shows the 12-foot “mini-Jaws” swimming dangerously close to the shore in Wales as children play nearby.
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Spotted twice, the first sighting came on Friday evening at Aberystwyth’s North Beach where the Porbeagle shark lurked close to the beach’s wooden jetty.
A crowd gathered to watch the shark which was subsequently reported to wildlife rescue teams and the coastguard over concerns it appeared to be ill or injured.
There were also concerns that the shark was at risk of beaching itself.
As a result, the public were warned to stay away for their own safety and to prevent additional stress for the animal.
Craig Roberts, who was visiting his son at Aberystwyth University, spotted the shark while visiting the beach.
He said: “We were on the pier and saw a bit of a commotion so went to have a look.
“Kids were jumping in the water just before it was spotted – they soon got out though.”
The second spotting came on Sunday in Aberdyfi, Gwynedd in what is understood to be the same shark.
Simon Howes and Owen Davies were among those who snapped photos and a video.
On the sighting, Davies said: “That’s a first for me in Aberdyfi – a shark up by the Penhelig Arms Hotel.”
HM Coastguard Aberystwyth stated they had received a request from the Milford Haven Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre to assist the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) charity.
The coastguard said: “The coastguard rescue team were tasked to provide safety cover for BDMLR and also to provide a bit of crowd control to ensure no members of the public put themselves in harms way, or inadvertently caused the shark further distress.
“After low tide and no further sightings, ‘mini jaws’ had seemingly made it out of the bay and so the CRT were stood down.”
The Porbeagle shark is native to the UK and belongs to the same family as the Great White and Mako sharks.
Porbeagle sharks: fact sheet
Here’s what you need to know about this at-risk species.
Porbeagles are sharks found in the Atlantic and South Pacific Ocean and the Mediterranean.
They are large and powerfully built, reaching up to 3.7 meters long and weighing up to 230kg.
Members of the species have been known to live up to 30 or even 65 years.
Females don’t reproduce until they are about 13 years old, and then give birth to an average of four pups every one or two years.
Offspring are birthed live after a gestation period lasting between eight and nine months.
Because of their slow reproductive cycle, porbeagle populations cannot recover quickly from declining population numbers.
In addition to overfishing in certain parts of the world, their populations have been decimated by habitat loss and degradation.
Another factor is bycatch, defined by NOAA Fisheries as “discarded catch of marine species and unobserved mortality due to a direct encounter with fishing vessels and gear.”
Northwest Atlantic porbeagles are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean populations are critically endangered.
They are characterised by their torpedo-shaped bodies, black eyes, and short conical snout.
One tell-tale feature is the distinctive white patch at the base of their dorsal fin, setting them apart from similar species.
Historically, the Porbeagle shark has been targeted for their meat, fins, and sport and were once a common trophy in offshore game fishing.
These practices have largely stopped today but the populations have yet to fully recover.
They are protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is an offence to intentionally kill or catch them in British waters.
Very few attacks have been attributed to the species despite being physically capable of attacking humans.
