Tourist spots huge shark swimming in UK harbour
A tourist was left utterly shocked after spotting a huge shark swimming in a UK harbour in recent days.
Typically, we expect to see sharks in places like the US, so the thought of one entering UK waters is not often talked about.
But this one UK tourist certainly spotted one, as she visited the lovely seaside resort of St Ives in Cornwall with family.
Typically known for its pesky seagulls, 46-year-old Olga Bates caught the sight of a sizeable fish near a collection of boats in the harbour of the Cornish town.
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The beast was captured in a photo by Olga just before 6:30am on 23 March, as they were having a nice morning stroll alongside the seafront.
But that relaxing stroll quickly changed, as Olga and her family spotted a shark. Yes, a shark. Good job they were not on a boat, eh?
Experts later identified the shark as a basking shark, which can grow up to a massive 45 feet long.
Basking shark's are actually the second-largest type of shark, behind the whale shark.
The large creatures actually swim with their mouths wide open to catch plankton as they filter water through their gills.
Olga, who was visiting from Knighton, Wales, was actually drawn to the shark after spotting a bunch of seals trying to hide from it.
But while some families would have been scared to see such a mammoth creature, Olga and her family had a very different view.
"We were very lucky," she said.
"We woke up so early to watch the sunrise and spotted seals hiding under the bridge and then we saw what they were hiding from - the shark."
She continued: "It was amazing to see and it was so close to the beach. It was an amazing surprise for us, we have never seen one that close before.
"We were enjoying the views and the sunshine, we were overwhelmed."
Amazingly, the shark was bigger than some of the boats that circled and passed through the harbour.
Olga and her family decided to stay and watch the shark until it went out with the tide.
"It was amazing to see it so close, I was so lucky and my grandson was very excited," she said.
While it is very large, The Wildlife Trust describes the basking shark as 'gentle giant' who are not known for being aggressive to humans.
Though, they warn people to give it space if seen if the waters as its sheer size can make it dangerous.
Callum Jones