The shark, believed to have been a porbeagle, became stranded at a beach in Wales leading to warnings for beachgoers who had flocked to the seaside to enjoy the sunshine
This is the incredible moment a shark related to the infamous great white was thrown back into the sea at a UK beach by brave beachgoers.
Beachgoers were stunned after witnesses spotted a shark near Aberystwyth Pier, in west Wales, while they were out enjoying the burst of sunshine on Friday afternoon. But some visitors did not believe a shark had become stranded on the shoreline with some believing it was an elaborate wind up. Sophie Griffiths, 35, from Aberystwyth, said her 9-year-old son had been swimming after school finished when they were alerted to a reported sighting of a shark.
“I heard someone say ‘shark’ and thought it was just a hoax,” she said, as reported to the BBC. “Everyone had a bit of a shock. It’s a first for me seeing the shark. I’m 35, born and raised in Aberystwyth.”
The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) sent members to the beach who believe the shark was a porbeagle, a regular sight off the British coast. The sharks are cousins to the Great White and can even grow to be as long as 11ft.
A video of the incident showed the shark swimming close to the water before a wave pushed it onto the shore. It was seen struggling against the pebbles before two people came to help move it and push it back toward the sea.
Fortunately, the shark was quickly able to find a quick route back to deeper waters and was later spotted swimming close to the pier.
The BDMLR said in a statement: “It is advised that members of the public don’t attempt to handle a shark if it strands to avoid injury.” Max Walker saw the shark from the Aberystwyth pier nearby and said that “no-one was allowed in the sea for a bit” following the sighting.
According to the Wildlife Trusts, they can be identified by their “mackerel” blue colour with a white belly and white mark at the rear base of the dorsal fin. They can weigh up to 230kg are also often mistaken for great whites, leading to mistaken reports of the infamous sharks across the UK.
On the other side of the globe, a dad and his 11-year-old son Parker found a three-metre-long great white that had become stranded in shallow water near Ardrossan, in South Australia. They managed to help with an hour-long rescue effort to get the distressed animal back to deeper water.
Dad Nash Core admitted his “heart was pounding” throughout the ordeal, which saw tourists and local people work together to move the creature. They used crab rakes – a garden rake-like tool for digging small crabs from the sand – in a bid to entice the shark back out to the ocean.
