KILLER SHARK ALERT AT SPANISH HOLIDAY HOTSPOT
A GREAT white shark has been spotted off the southern coast of Majorca – the first official sighting off the holiday island in almost 40 years.
The 16ft shark was pictured by Alnitak, a research, education and conservation project, near the island of Cabrera on Thursday morning.
Alnitak said on its Facebook page that it had “located and documented eight miles from Cabrera Island and for 70 minutes, the presence of a five-metre long white shark (Carcharodon Carcharias)”.
“In recent years there were possible unconfirmed sightings and various rumours, but this is the first scientific observation of the presence of the white shark in Spanish waters for at least 30 years,” it added.
People reacted with messages of support at news of the sighting. Jordi Gallego wrote: “The waters around the Balearic Islands were waters this species of shark liked. I remember one washing up alive on the beach at Tossa de Mar in Girona.”
Ruben Castillo added: “Very good piece of news.”
Great whites are one of the 47 species of shark said to lurk in the Mediterranean.
They attained notoriety after a man eater was featured in Stephen Spielberg’s 1975 film Jaws.
Among the most common sharks off Spain are blue sharks which have been blamed for a number of recent beach closures.
Earlier this month one was spotted off the popular beach of Arenal d’en Castell in Menorca.
Cabrera, the largest island of a small archipelago, was a military zone until the 1980s.