A swimmer at a beach in Marbella, Spain, got a fright when a fin appeared to chase him to shore, but the creature was a 300kg tuna, not a shark. Video footage showed a fin breaking the water's surface close to Ancón beach, prompting onlookers to shout warnings and step out of the sea.
Fin approaches swimmers
The fin moved quickly towards two swimmers. When one man spotted it, he swam for the shore, with the animal following him and causing the crowd to scream. As he reached the beach, the animal surfaced and thrashed violently in the shallows.
Instead of a shark, a huge tuna was seen writhing in distress. Local reporters estimated the fish weighed around 300kg. Later footage shared in a local Facebook group showed people using deckchairs and umbrellas to help the bleeding tuna back into the sea, despite its gills bleeding.
Likely injured by fishing vessel
While sharks live off the Spanish coast, they usually stay far from beaches, hunting in deep waters. Adult tunas also spend most of their time in deep water. Local reporters said the tuna was likely injured by a fishing vessel, leaving it disoriented and causing it to swim to the beach.
The incident comes amid growing fears about sharks in the Mediterranean after scientists suggested great white sharks may be breeding in the region. In January, a juvenile great white was accidentally caught by fishermen off eastern Spain, measuring about 210cm and weighing between 80kg and 90kg.
Great white breeding concerns
Breeding populations of great whites were thought to have vanished from the Mediterranean, but the young shark's discovery led scientists to investigate. They concluded the species remains a 'ghost' population in the area, not entirely gone. Great whites are most common off Australia, South Africa, and the US west coast, with rare Mediterranean sightings.
