Tourists at a beach in Le Barcarès, southern France, were evacuated from the water after a two-metre shark was spotted swimming close to the shore on 22 July. Lifeguards raised a red flag and banned swimming for an hour until the area was deemed safe.
The shark, believed to be a blue shark, was seen near the beach in the Pyrénées-Orientales region bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Blue sharks are common in the Mediterranean during the reproductive season, though sightings so close to the shore are unusual.
A video posted on TikTok captured the moment of panic as the shark's fin was visible in the water. One tourist recounted hearing screams of 'shark, shark!' while dining at a restaurant. Lifeguards monitored the shark for five minutes, describing it as calm and non-aggressive.
The sighting follows a similar incident a week earlier in Portbou, Spain, where two blue sharks were spotted on the beach. Local authorities remind the public that shark sightings are not uncommon during breeding season when prey fish swim near the coast.
