Beachgoers were told to leave the water after a suspected shark was spotted at St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey – days after a species usually found in the Mediterranean washed up in the area
Lifeguards evacuated a British beach after a large shark was spotted patrolling the waters.
RNLI lifeguards used loudspeakers to tell people to get out of the water at St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey after multiple sightings of the creature in the water on Saturday morning. It was described as dark grey and about 10ft to 12ft (3m to 3.6m) long.
One local lifeguard said it was the first time in history that Jersey has closed the beach for a shark sighting – and it’s one of only a handful of times this has happened in the entire British Isles.
Lifeguard Tom Rolls said he could barely believe what he was hearing when the alarm was raised by a colleague further down the coast.
He told the Jersey Evening Post: “We got the call through from one of the guards at Watersplash [beach bar], and he basically said that a shark had been spotted in the lineup.
“Initially, we were like, ‘that’s a joke, you’re having us on here’. But then he was persistent. He said multiple sightings had been seen by members of the public.”
Red flags were flown and a PA system was used to tell people to get out of the water, before the beach reopened around an hour later. No injuries were reported.
In June, a 4.3-metre-long (14ft) smalltooth sand tiger shark washed up on Grève d’Azette beach in Jersey, about seven miles from the location of the most recent sighting.
The shark was showing faint signs of life when it was first discovered stranded in a shallow tidal pool.
Responders from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), Jersey Coastguard, and Marine Resources attempted to revive it, but the animal died shortly after.
Sand tiger sharks are usually found in tropical and subtropical waters, such as the Mediterranean.
Previous beach evacuations sparked by shark sightings
In August 2021, a stretch of water off Boscombe and Bournemouth beaches in Dorset was temporarily cleared by RNLI lifeguards after daytrippers reported of a “large marine animal” in the water. Experts said the incident was likely triggered by harmless basking shark.
And in July 2012, surfers and swimmers were evacuated from Croyde Bay in Devon after a member of the public spotted a large fin in the water offshore.
RNLI lifeguards advised people to leave the water as a precaution as the fin – also believed to be from a basking shark – appeared inside a designated safe swimming zone.