A shark was spotted speeding towards a stand-up paddleboarder in the sea off Cornwall and darting towards the person on the board before swimming away again in nail-biting footage
A shark was spotted heading straight towards an unsuspecting paddleboarder by people watching from high up on Cornwall’s cliffs.
They even managed to capture the spectacle on their mobile phone, and have shared it for others to see. The Falmouth locals were shocked to see the incident in the sea while they were out enjoying a stroll near the Minack Theatre in west Cornwall.
The pair noticed a disturbance in the waters at Porthcurno Beach, and stopped to watch the large creature in the bay. It comes after a Japan tsunami sent a gigantic wall of water smashing into the coast.
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The paddleboard appeared unaware of the shark(Image: Cornwall Live)
Sharing the footage with Cornwall Live, she mentioned she’s previously spotted basking sharks off the Lizard peninsula but they aren’t known for darting around at such speed. This smaller shark was moving much quicker.
She said: “Watchers on the cliff were a bit alarmed when the creature beelined for the paddleboarder.
“I have seen basking sharks but this was quite dramatic. I’ve never seen sharks do this off the coast of Cornwall so it was quite exciting. It felt like quite a dramatic moment.”
The shark was darting around(Image: Cornwall Live)
Whilst the footage is captured from quite far away, it distinctly shows the shark swimming at rapid pace towards the paddleboarder.
The woman revealed she shared her video footage with RNLI lifeguards on the beach below, who suggested it could be a porbeagle shark. The videographer, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “Perhaps it was the splashing of the SUP paddle in the water that attracted the shark.
“I think the people on the cliff were pleased to see it change direction at the last minute. However, the people in the water didn’t seem to notice and paddled off in the same direction.”
Frequently confused with great white sharks, porbeagles are a type of mackerel shark measuring half the size of a great white. They are prevalent in the Atlantic Ocean and in British waters. Incidents involving humans or vessels are exceptionally uncommon.
Last month the Mirror reported on a man who was injured as he was trying to drag a shark back out to sea in front of stunned beachgoers. He was bitten by the grey and white creature while wrestling with it in the water.
The 21-year-old man had caught the Sandbar shark while fishing but ended up needing to be evacuated by an air ambulance for treatment. The fisherman, who has not been named, caught and tried to release the animal on the beach near Hoicks Hollow in Nantucket – an island in Massachusetts, USA.