Sharks on our shores

Near misses and tussles

2008: Devon

Stephen Perkins, 52, a fisherman, needs reconstructive surgery after being bitten by a blue shark. He had hauled the predator into his boat to get a picture of it.

2012: Ceredigion, Wales

A beach is closed to bathers when a blue shark is spotted swimming between boats and past tourists in a few feet of water close to the shore.

2012: West Dorset

A beach is closed for an hour and a half when a blue shark is seen in the water.

2016: Felixstowe

A windsurfer’s board is bitten by a shark – but the windsurfer sustains no injuries.

2017: Bantham Beach, South Devon

Rich Thomson, 30, a teacher, gets into a tussle with a small shark, thought to be a smooth hound, while surfing.

2018: Newlyn

Max Berryman, 21, a fisherman, is taken to hospital with bites on his leg “down to the muscle” after being mauled by a porbeagle shark he hauled into his boat off the coast of Cornwall.