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Blackleaf

Has a great white shark been seen off Cornwall?

by NICK McDERMOTT
28th July 2007
DAily Mail

A beach in St Ives, Cornwall: the sharks are probably attracted to the climate of England's South West, the hottest part of the UK.

British beaches have been put on shark alert after a holidaymaker spotted what experts say may have been a Great White 200 yards off the coast of Cornwall.

Father-of-two Nick Fletcher filmed a giant predator - up to 12ft in length - hunting dolphins off St Ives.

Experts confirmed the creature in his video was a shark and admitted there was a possibility that it was the maneater made famous in the film Jaws.

Shark expert Richard Peirce said: 'I certainly wouldn't rule out that it is a Great White.

Warming to Britain? Great Whites may changing their haunts

'It is clearly a predatory shark, but it could also be a Porbeagle or a Mako.

'There is not enough footage for a positive identification.'

Oliver Crimmen, fish curator of the Natural History Museum, also viewed the film.

He said last night: 'It's definitely predatory and definitely big. I can't rule out a Great White.'

Mr Fletcher, from Rotherham, was holidaying in St Ives with his wife and two children when he shot the footage last month.

He was recording dolphins playing off Porthmeor beach and only realised a killer shark could have been in their midst when he watched the video at home.

He told The Sun: 'I got my camcorder and started filming.

'It was really lovely as dolphins are so graceful.

'You can see them at first loping out of the water.

'Then this shark with what seems a huge mouth, leaps out, crashes down and disappears. It's incredible.'

In the past two years the number of shark sightings off the British coast has increased as waters become warmer.

A handful of possible sightings of Great Whites have been made before in UK waters, but none have been confirmed.

Experts have said it is only a matter of time before the sharks, which are more usually found off the Australian and South African coasts but have been spotted in Mediterranean waters, turn up near Britain.

Basking sharks - which can grow up to 26ft in length - are a common sight off the Cornish coast. They are totally harmless to humans, since they eat nothing bigger than plankton.

The mighty basking shark, the world's second-largest fish, is a common sight off the Cornish coast

In contrast, Great Whites have been responsible for a number of vicious attacks on surfers and swimmers across the globe.

Worldwide there are fewer than 100 shark attacks every year and just a handful of deaths.

Against that, 1,600 people are bitten by other people in New York every year, 150 die from coconuts falling on their head and more people are killed by dogs in the U.S. each year than have been killed by Great Whites in 100 years.

dailymail.co.uk

Babygael · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:41 pm Post subject:

Hi Blackleaf, weel ah always watch oot fae th' coconuts fallin' oan ma heid! Rolling Eyes

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RadgeJougal · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:40 pm Post subject:

Actually it was the CORNISH coast - be warned!!!

http://www.cornishnotenglish.co.uk
http://www.thisisnotengland.co.uk
http://www.cornishstannaryparliament.co.uk/
http://www.mebyonkernow.org

kathyv · Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:07 am Post subject:

Well, Great Whites have been seen off the Oregon coast and it's pretty comparable temp wise to the southern England (next to Cornwall!) coast!

We have a lot of Sea Lions, they seem to attract Great Whites and every year, usually in the summer, some surfer, fisherman, Coast Guard or swimmer reports some.
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