Huge hammerhead shark spotted near popular British tourist beaches
Two more popular tourist beaches have been closed in Spain over new shark sightings.
Swimmers were out of the water at San Augustin beach in Gran Canaria after a tourist photographed the tell-tale fin of a shark sticking out of the water.
Tourists at Melenara Beach on the island’s east coast were also urged to stay away from the sea after a police drone spotted a hammerhead shark.
The sighting was the second one in just two days and came after the beach was deemed safe enough to reopen to the public.
Those on neighbouring Salinetas beach were also ordered out of the water.
It comes after a shark terrorised bathers at Melenara beach around 5pm on Saturday and led to the first of the beach closures.
Young girls could be heard screaming as the shark approached the shoreline at speed with its fin sticking out of the water.
Another man was pictured with a child in his arms from the safety of the sand as he watched it come towards them.
Its size was initially calculated at just under seven feet, although the second drone sighting pointed to it being up to 10ft-long.
A young girl who was in the water when the shark appeared told a local TV station: ‘The lifeguard started blowing his whistle and indicating everyone should get out of the water and I looked round and saw its fin.’
A friend added: ‘We saw the fin which was about seven inches out of the water and we began to move as fast as we could back towards the beach.’
A council spokesman for Telde Council, said: ‘It’s important people stay calm and follow the instructions of the lifeguards and the authorities.’
Most hammerhead species are considered harmless to humans and few attacks have been recorded, but they are aggressive hunters and their size and fierceness make them potentially harmless.
A blue shark was blamed for an attack on a holidaymaker in Elche near Alicante in July 2016.
The 40-year-old victim was rushed to hospital and given stitches to a wound in his hand.
First aiders described the bite as ‘large’ and said he had come out of the sea with blood streaming from the injury.
In June last year a fully grown blue shark measuring some seven feet caused panic off the Costa Blanca beach of Aguamarina in Orihuela Costa south of Alicante.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.