THIS is the shocking moment a huge shark was seen swimming within meters of stunned tourists on a holiday beach.
Incredible footage shows a large group of tourists enjoying the Spanish sun before a shadowy, chilling figure appears along the coast in shallow waters.
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The brave tourists, including young children, can be seen just meters away from the shark. Harbor Bares beach while watching it pass by.
Many of the fascinated spectators even ran after the shark as it continued to swim along the shore.
Local mayor Alfredo Dovale spoke after the accident, saying he did not remember seeing a shark so close to shore in his life.
After the initial shock wore off, the mayor added that residents were intrigued to see the shark clumsily swim towards them.
Dovale said: “With the way he moved, he looked disoriented or even sick.”
The shark was first spotted at around 5pm on Monday, near the town of Manon, in the Galician province of La Coruña.
Although the sea creature was almost 3 meters long, it was later revealed to be a species harmless to humans, known as the endangered basking shark.
The sea creature was later spotted along the coast again on Tuesday.
A number of popular Spanish beaches have already been closed due to shark sightings this year.
Dramatic images captured last week show the moment a shark makes its way through the water on a beach in Gran Canaria.
Beachgoers captured the shark violently heading towards shallower waters at high speed.
As the beast cuts through the waves, people on the sand may scream and scream in fear.
The camera then moves to the shore, where a young girl runs away from the approaching shark.
Also on Gran Canaria, Melenara beach was closed after police spotted a shark prowling close to the coast, after using a drone to locate it.
It was initially thought to be around 7 feet long – but a second sighting confirmed the beast was up to 10 feet long.
The swimming ban has been extended to nearby Salinetas beach for the safety of sun worshipers.
A few hours later, lifeguards raised a red flag in a third location – San Augustin beach, in the south of the island.
A tourist broke the tell-tale fin of another shark emerging from the water.
Local police later confirmed that the sightings were of hammerhead sharks. sharks – which are generally not aggressive towards humans.
Regardless, the telltale shark fin swarming near shore tends to provoke panic.
Near Alicante, terrified tourists were forced to try to navigate to safety in waist-deep water on a Costa Blanca beach as a shark swarmed nearby.
Lifeguards blew their whistles to ask people to get out of the sea as quickly as possible.
The incident took place on Aguamarina beach, in Orihuela Costa, south of Alicante, Spain.
What is a basking shark?
Basking sharks are the second largest living shark swimming in our oceans and can grow up to 26 feet.
An adult can tip the scales at a formidable 5,000 kg, but despite their impressive and frightening appearance, they are relatively harmless.
Their jaws can open more than a meter and they have more than 1,500 teeth to help them eat their only favorite food – plankton.
They are easy to spot in the water due to their large, black, triangular dorsal fin that stays above the surface when they swim.
Unlike many other sea creatures, the basking shark swims with its mouth open.
Due to their size and appearance, people often mistake them for great white sharks.
The basking shark is often a target for fishermen as it is seen as a great food source, as well as having expensive fins and shark liver oil.
This has led to them being overexploited, to the point that they are now endangered species.
Found in countries such as Spain, Morocco, Faroe Islands, USA, Canada and even the United Kingdom.
The basking shark’s scientific name is actually Cetorhinus maximus, which in Greek roughly translates to “big-nosed sea monster.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
