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Huge '10-Foot' Shark Spotted Off The Coast Of Spain

Huge '10-Foot' Shark Spotted Off The Coast Of Spain

Tourists and locals were ordered to get out the water after the terrifying discovery in the holiday resort of Fuengirola, Costa del Sol

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

This is not something you want to be swimming alongside so we can only imagine the panic when tourists and locals were ordered to get out of the water after a '10-foot' shark was spotted.

Police are searching for the animal which was seen off the Costa del Sol holiday resort of Fuengirola.

Local emergency services began to receive calls about the shark at around 1pm local time today and red flags were hoisted along more than five miles of coastline.

It was first seen off Torreblanca beach in Castelló before new sightings nearer Malaga which were thought to be the same shark.

Footage taken by stunned locals showed the fish - thought to be a tintorera or blue shark - moving through the water. Holidaymakers were asked to leave the water while local police and Guardia Civil searched for it.

Blue shark are one of the most common species of sharks in the Mediterranean.The same type of shark was blamed for an attack on a holidaymaker in Elche near Alicante in July 2016.

The 40-year-old victim was rushed to hospital and given stitches to a wound in his hand. First aiders described the bite as 'large' and said he had come out of the sea with blood streaming from the injury.

Tourists were ordered out of the water the following month in Fuengirola after bathers said they had spotted a shark.

Lifeguards on jet skis helped kids on dinghies and from an inflatable water park near where the shark was spotted to safety as colleagues ran along the shoreline blowing on whistles and ordering swimmers out of the water.

Costa del Sol.
PA

Things were looking worse in Australia last month as Alex Travaglini was in the water near Gracetown, south of Perth, when a shark attacked him, ripping into his legs three times.

Fortunately, Alex managed to fight off the shark and is now recovering from his injuries.

Speaking to news.com.au he said: "I heard my friend say, 'There it is!' and asked him what he meant and he told me that a shark just swam underneath him.

"Everyone in the area started paddling away, not panicking but moving quickly to get some distance between them and the shark."

Alex watched as everyone in the area began leaving the area and quickly followed, but it was too late, and moments later he felt something biting into his calf, before it began thrashing around.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Spain, Community, Animals, shark