A lifeguard at a popular Jersey beach had a close encounter with a suspected shark, leading to the beach being closed as a precaution. St Ouen's Bay on the northwestern tip of Jersey was shut on Saturday morning after reports of a possible shark sighting.
RNLI lifeguard Tom Rolls said his colleague Nick paddled over the animal on a rescue board at about 10.40am shortly before the beach was closed. Tom told the Bailiwick Express: 'He even said he kind of punched it as he was paddling, so it must have been really close to the surface. It was darkish grey, about 10 to 12 feet long, and then it swam away really quickly from under his board.'
Beach closed as precaution
Rolls said lifeguards could not believe what they heard at first until receiving calls from a nearby beach where a 'shark had been spotted in the lineup' and reports from beachgoers. As the species could not be identified, lifeguards decided to red flag the beach, effectively closing it to the public.
RNLI confirmed that one of its lifeguards spotted a suspected shark off the coast, leading to the decision to close the beach as a precaution while checks were made in the water.
Expert doubts Great White sighting
Richard Peirce, a wildlife campaigner who has published books on sharks in British waters, said he doubts the sighting involved a species like a Great White. He told Metro: 'I haven't seen a good picture of a dorsal fin that might have enabled me to have a stab at the species. It has to be a good picture because if you get a good enough side on a dorsal fin, it's a bit like a human fingerprint. I'm not going to guess as to what the species might have been, except that if it was a large dorsal fin and it was close, a basking shark is what comes to mind.'
Peirce defended the lifeguards' decision to close the beach, saying: 'Some people say the lifeguard who closed the beach acted hastily, but I don't agree with that. I don't know how crowded the beach was, but if there was a fin in the water and if that fin was going to cause people to worry, possibly even to panic, then it is going to be sensible to close the beach until the fin buzzed off. You don't want maybe a child going under in haste to get out of the water. It's that typical scene from Jaws that comes to mind all those years ago, the rush to get out of the water.'
Sharks in British waters
Around 30 species of sharks roam in the waters surrounding the British Isles, including the blue shark, mako, thresher and poor beagle dubbed a miniature Great White, and the basking shark, the second-largest living shark, Richard said. Sharks killed an estimated 10 people last year, while around 100 million sharks died in the hands of humans and due to overfishing, he said.
He continued: 'Sharks are under far more threat from humans than humans are ever likely to be from sharks. We are pushing some species, Great Whites amongst them, towards extinction. There is no danger of human extinction at the hands of sharks.'
Shark scientist Tom 'The Blowfish Hird' said that Great Whites are constantly on the move following food sources, and it would be easy for one to swim around the UK 'in a matter of days.' He said that just because the species hasn't been spotted for sure in British waters 'doesn't mean they're not here already.'
Beach reopened after 45 minutes
An RNLI spokesperson told Metro: 'RNLI lifeguards at St Ouens Bay responded to a suspected shark sighting off the coast on the morning of Saturday 1st August, by one of our Lifeguards in the water. A decision was made to red flag the beach and get all members of the public out of the water as a precaution. The team then used a jet ski to survey the area, before concluding that there was no further sign. The beach was red flagged for 45 minutes. There have been no sightings since.'
