Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the seaside..
Warmer water brings sharks to UK coast
BRITISH beach holidays may soon have a bit more bite.
Hordes of sharks attracted by warmer seas could migrate to our coastline over the next 30 years, a respected study predicts.
Great whites, the man-eating monster in the film Jaws, and the feared oceanic whitetip could be among the species heading here.
Experts have drawn up a shark map of Britain for Nat Geo WILD, a TV network linked to the esteemed National Geographic Society. The effects of climate change are likely to lead to other non-native sharks being drawn to our waters, such as great hammerheads, blacktips, sand tigers, bigeye threshers and coppers.
The oceanic whitetip was once described by renowned oceanographer Jacques Cousteau as “the most dangerous of all sharks”.
They are believed to have killed many of the 900 sailors who survived the 1945 torpedoing of the USS Indianapolis, a tragedy recounted by Robert Shaw’s character in 1975’s Jaws.
Dr Ken Collins, former administrator of the UK Shark Tagging Programme, was commissioned to produce the map. He said: “It’s likely we will be seeing more sharks spread from warmer regions such as the Mediterranean Sea towards our waters in the UK over the next 30 years.” The map identifies Cornwall as the UK’s current shark capital with at least 20 species, followed by the Isles of Scilly and Devon. Yesterday we revealed how five anglers off North Devon, expecting to catch one shark, actually landed 20 in a 24-hour trip. Dr Collins said species now in our waters, such as the basking, thresher and nursehound, are declining in numbers due to over-fishing and need to be protected. He did not rule out the great white ending up here but did not add it to his list. He said: “I see no reason why not – they live in colder waters off South Africa and [would] have a favourite food source, seals, along the Cornish coast.” But he said as worldwide numbers are falling the chances of seeing one around the UK fall year by year.