‘Shark’ sparks panic at Spanish beach as tourists scream for their children to get out of the water… but it’s not what it seems
The giant creature was seen thrashing in the sea off La Antilla in Spain, with terrified tourists seen warning their children to get out of the water.
This is the dramatic moment a fin rises from the sea causing panic on Spanish beach holidaymakers.
In the video, locals and tourists can be heard warning their children to get out of the water in La Antilla, Spain, while others run up and down the beach for fear of shark attacks.
The animal was filmed thrashing around between swimmers and youths on paddle boards for over a minute before returning to the sea.
It comes after a tintora, or blue shark, caused panic at Aguamarina beach on the Orihuela Costa, south of Alicante, on June 22.
But police later described it as a Cuvier’s beaked whale and urged people to remain ‘calm’.
Locals and tourists in Spain’s La Antilla can be heard warning their children to get out of the water, while others run up and down the beach in fear of a shark attack.
The force said: ‘It’s not a shark and you won’t see Steven Spielberg on the beach with his camera. It’s not even a killer whale.
‘The animal that visited us appeared to be a Cuvier’s beaked whale, which holds records for deep-sea dives but is very sensitive to gold. Perhaps it is disorientated and stuck almost to the end.’
Cuvier’s beaked whale is one of the most frequent spotted beaked whales despite its deep water habitat.
Master divers have been known to dive to a depth of about 1.9 miles.
This species also holds the record for the longest dive. According to scientists, a whale went three hours and 42 minutes without coming up for air.
On June 28, another blue shark was spotted off a dock on the island of Arusa in the Galician province of Pontevedra.
The animal was filmed thrashing between swimmers and youngsters on a paddle board for more than a minute before heading back into the sea.
But police later described it as a Cuvier’s beaked whale and urged people to remain ‘calm’.
Cuvier’s beaked whale is one of the most frequent spotted beaked whales despite its deep water habitat.
The footage showed the shark’s fins visible above the water line as it approached a fisherman’s boat.
But blue sharks rarely bite humans but have been involved in several bite incidents, four of which are reported to have ended fatally.
A blue shark was blamed for an attack on a holidaymaker in Elche, near Alicante, in July 2016.
The 40-year-old victim was taken to hospital and received stitches to a wound on his hand.
First aiders described the bite as ‘huge’ and said he had come out of the sea bleeding from the injury.
In August 2018, tourists fled the sea in panic after one of Spain’s most common blue sharks appeared on the crowded Majorcan beaches of Calas de Majorca on the island’s east coast.
In April a nearly seven-foot shark, believed to be a Tintora, was filmed in the surf at a nearby beach called Cala Lombards on the southeast coast of Majorca.