Shocking moment huge shark swims in shallow waters YARDS from Spanish hols hotspot beach in front of stunned tourists
THIS is the shocking moment a huge shark was spotted swimming just a few yards away from stunned tourists on a holiday beach.
Incredible footage shows a large group of holidaymakers enjoying the Spanish sun before a chilling shadowy figure appears along the coastline in the shallow waters.
The brave tourists, including young children, can be seen standing just feet away from the shark on Porto de Bares beach as they watch it glide on past.
Many of the fascinated onlookers even ran after the shark as it continued to swim up the coastline.
Local mayor Alfredo Dovale spoke out after the close call saying he couldn’t remember seeing a shark so close to the shoreline in his lifetime.
After the initial shock sighting wore off the mayor added that locals were left puzzled after seeing the shark awkwardly swim up to them.
Mr Dovale said: “With the way it was moving, it looked disorientated or even ill.”
The shark was first spotted at around 5pm on Monday near the town of Manon in the Galician province of La Coruna.
Despite the sea creature being almost 10ft long it was later revealed to be a harmless species to humans known as an endangered basking shark.
The sea creature was later spotted along the shoreline again on Tuesday.
A spate of popular Spanish beaches have been closed over shark sightings this year already.
Dramatic footage captured last week shows the moment a shark thrashes its way through the water at a beach in Gran Canaria.
Beachgoers captured the shark violently making its way towards shallower waters at fast speed.
As the beast cuts through the waves people on the sand can be hard shouting and crying out in fear.
The camera then pans to the shore, where one young woman sprints away from the incoming shark.
Also in Gran Canaria, Melenara Beach was shut down after cops spotted a shark swarming near the shore after using a drone to track it down.
It was initially thought to be around 7ft long – but a second sighting confirmed the beast was up to 10ft.
A swimming ban was extended to neighbouring Salinetas beach for sun-seekers safety.
Only hours later, lifeguards hoisted a red flag at a third spot – San Augustin beach on the south of the island.
A tourist had snapped the tell-tale fin of another shark sticking out of the water.
Local police later confirmed the sightings were of hammerhead sharks – which generally aren’t aggressive towards humans.
Regardless, the telltale shark fin swarming near shore tends to spark panic.
Near Alicante, terrified holidaymakers were forced to try and wade to safety in waist-high water off a Costa Blanca beach, as a shark swarmed nearby.
Lifeguards blew on their whistles to urge people to get out of the sea as quickly as possible.
The incident happened at Aguamarina Beach in Orihuela Costa, south of Alicante, in Spain.
What is a basking shark?
BASKING sharks are the second-largest living shark swimming in our oceans and can grow up to 26ft.
An adult can hit the scales at a formidable 5,000kg but despite its impressive and scary look they are actually relatively harmless.
Their jaws can open up over 3ft and they have over 1,500 teeth to help them snack on their only food of choice – plankton.
They are easy to spot in the water due to their large, black, triangular dorsal fin that sits above the surface when they swim.
Unlike many other sea creatures, the basking shark swims with its mouth open.
Due to their size and appearance people often mistake them for great whites.
The basking shark is often a target for fishermen as they are seen as a great source of food as well as having expensive fins and shark liver oil.
This has led to them becoming over exploited to the point where they are now endangered species.
With them being found in countries such as Spain, Morocco, Faroe Islands, the US, Canada and even the UK.
The basking shark’s scientific name is actually Cetorhinus maximus which in Greek roughly translates to “great-nosed sea monster”.