French beach on alert after third shark sighting
The Local France - [email protected]
Published: 20 Jul, 2015 CET.
Updated: Mon 20 Jul 2015 12:10 CET
Lifeguards in southern France are on alert after spotting a shark just metres from the shoreline of a popular beach - the third such sighting in recent days.
There's something lurking beneath the surface in the waters of southern France.
Red flags were raised at the Plage du Bocal du Tech, near the town of Perpignan in southern France, on Saturday after a shark was spotted near the shoreline.
The sighting marked the third in ten days at the beach, which isn't far from the Spanish border.
"At first I thought it was a swimmer doing the backstroke, then I saw the churn in the water, and fish jumping out of the sea," one beach goer told the France Bleu Roussillon radio station.
(The beach is not far from the town of Perpignan, near the Spanish border. Photo: GoogleMaps)
A lifeguard, who took to his jet ski to ward off the creature, noted that he saw "a big fin" and estimated the shark to have been up to two metres long.
While it remains unknown exactly what type of shark was spotted, lifeguards are confident that it was indeed a shark, and dismissed claims that it could have been a sunfish.
Bathers were advised to stay out of the water, and lined up on the shore to watch the spectacle. Indeed, beach goers probably don't have reason to panic - there has only been one fatal shark attack in the coastal waters of mainland France since the 1840s.
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There's something lurking beneath the surface in the waters of southern France.
Red flags were raised at the Plage du Bocal du Tech, near the town of Perpignan in southern France, on Saturday after a shark was spotted near the shoreline.
The sighting marked the third in ten days at the beach, which isn't far from the Spanish border.
"At first I thought it was a swimmer doing the backstroke, then I saw the churn in the water, and fish jumping out of the sea," one beach goer told the France Bleu Roussillon radio station.
(The beach is not far from the town of Perpignan, near the Spanish border. Photo: GoogleMaps)
A lifeguard, who took to his jet ski to ward off the creature, noted that he saw "a big fin" and estimated the shark to have been up to two metres long.
While it remains unknown exactly what type of shark was spotted, lifeguards are confident that it was indeed a shark, and dismissed claims that it could have been a sunfish.
Bathers were advised to stay out of the water, and lined up on the shore to watch the spectacle. Indeed, beach goers probably don't have reason to panic - there has only been one fatal shark attack in the coastal waters of mainland France since the 1840s.
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