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Environment

05th Aug 2021

British beach evacuated after ‘large shark’ spotted swimming yards from the shore

Kieran Galpin

Shark sighting at UK beach

At Boscombe beach, in Bournemouth, Dorset, on Wednesday, a large marine creature was spotted just offshore. In response, RNLI lifeguards put up red flags, the signal to warn swimmers of a serious hazard in the water.

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They also put out a tannoy announcement telling people to get out of the sea due to “large marine wildlife” in the water, and later closed the beach for more than an hour.

Witness Gemma Harris told the Mirror: “The lifeguard put out a loudspeaker announcement saying ‘everyone out of the water. There is marine wildlife in the water.’

“Everybody rushed out of the water and the RNLI response was very effective.

“They checked the water for about half-an-hour before letting bathers back in.

“Apparently a fin was spotted. We heard one of the RNLI team say it was a shark but nothing has been confirmed.”

The beach has since been fully reopened, after lifeguards conducted checks.

Arguably due to warming sea temperatures, sharks that are usually inclined to swim hotter waters are now venturing to our little island.

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Most recently, Australia has renamed shark attacks “negative encounters” in a bid to quell the mass panic relating to the predator. With the rise of shark attack films, the world is naturally apprehensive, nay hysteric, at the idea of sharks being in the water.

But the statistics actually show that shark attacks are not as common as we are led to believe. Silive reports that while we kill around 100 million sharks a year, they only kill roughly five of us. Apparently, you have a higher chance of being killed by a flying champagne cork, accidental poisoning, or lightning.