BENIDORM – A shark – complete with fearsome fin – showed itself this morning (Thursday) near the Poniente beach/shore in Benidorm. The beach was immediately cleared pending experts to return the animal to the sea.
Several videos of the situation, which have been widely distributed, clearly show how close the shark is to the beach and how it struggles to free itself from its plight. Despite comments from the bystanders ‘es enorme!’ (it’s huge), it measured barely more than a metre, according to broadcaster La Sexta. And in principle does not pose a danger to people. In a video on La Sexta, an interviewed officer speaks of ‘el pequinito’ (the little one).
Tiburón en Benidorm ahora mismo. pic.twitter.com/Tw91DJLMbQ
— Laneta Sola ✨ (@LanetaSola) August 12, 2021
First to raise the alarm
A lifeguard was the first to spot the shark and raise the alarm. And for a few minutes, a large group of bathers, armed with mobile phones, captured footage of the unusual image of a shark. Moreover, this was off the busiest beach on the Costa Blanca in mid-August. The local police soon arrived and, aided by the Guardia Civil, cleared and cordoned off the beach.
They then waited for experts from Oceanografic in Valencia to evaluate the animal’s condition, the cause of its disorientation. And also to assist in returning the animal to the sea.
Shark possibly injured
El País writes that a boat attempted to redirect the animal out of the bay. But the little shark instead swam to the end of the beach to stay there. Experts at the municipality suspect that the animal is injured.
Benidorm Beaches Councilor Monica Gomez Lopez told El País the area “is still cordoned off” and that “no one has been injured”. She explained that people are working to “return to normality as soon as possible.”
13 blue shark incidents since 1580
The blue shark rarely attacks humans. According to the Florida Museum’s shark attack record, there have been only 13 incidents involving a human bite by this animal between 1580 and 2013. Four of them resulted in the death of the person attacked.
