Voracious wolf of the sea

Blue sharks, which can grow to 12ft and 850lb, regularly travel 1,700 miles across oceans and visit British waters in summer.

Known as ‘wolves of the sea’, they hunt in packs at speeds of 25mph.

They are voracious predators, surrounding schools of anchovies, sardines, herring and squid, then using their triangular serrated teeth to tear apart their prey.

Thirteen unprovoked blue shark attacks on humans have been recorded, of which four were fatal.

Females are viviparous, giving birth to 25 to 50 pups.

Populations in the North Atlantic have fallen by an estimated 60 per cent since the mid-20th century due to overfishing.