Shark sightings in Spain holiday hotspots 'remain a mystery', expert says | The Sun
SHARKS appear to be swarming off Spain – but scientists are completely stumped as to what could be drawing them to the shore.
At least four of the animals have been spotted swimming in shallow waters across the coast in the last week alone.
Dr Gavin Naylor, director of The Florida Program of Shark Research, said scientists at this stage simply cannot know what appears to drawing in the predatory fish.
But he did assure tourists that the area is not becoming a "dangerous hotspot" – and said the shark flurry could be a one-off event.
Blue sharks – which can grow up to 10ft long and weigh up to 200kg – appear to be behind most of the sightings in June.
And there was one "very unusual" sighting of a cow shark, a species that usually lives right at the bottom of the sea.
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Dr Naylor said right now there is no explanation for the sightings – but speculated a mix of conditions such as water temperatures, food and changing shark nurseries could explain the encounters.
The latest incident took place last on Wednesday after a blue shark was seen off the docks on the island of Arousa, just north of Portugal.
Fishermen in Majorca were also left in shock when the massive cow shark approached their boat last weekend.
And then last Thursday, bathers ran to safety through waist-high water as a blue shark neared the shoreline off Aguamarina Beach, south of Alicante, at around 10am.
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The following morning, footage showed another blue shark lurking in the water at the port in the popular city of Ciutadella in Menorca.
"We’ve seen a few similar cases where blue sharks would end up on the shore," said Dr Naylor.
"However, I've never seen a case like this where the shark ended up in extremely shallow waters on tourist beaches."
He explained: "Blue sharks are usually pelagic, which means they live in the open sea.
"You’d have to go approximately 10 miles offshore before you come across one of them.
"Maybe it’s food or maybe there’s a lens of cold water that is driving them from offshore into close in.
"But for now, these sightings in Spain remain a complete mystery to us."
The shark expert told The Sun Online he cannot be sure what's driving the sharks to come so close to shore, but "it's clearly atmospheric conditions of some kind".
"Maybe it’s food or maybe there’s a lens of cold water that is driving them from offshore into close in," he said.
Dr Naylor also explained the sightings would not be related to mating season.
He said: "I have a colleague who works in Portugal and she’s been struggling to identify blue shark nurseries which could maybe explain why these animals are coming up to the surface.
"But we haven’t been able to identify them so we think they probably have their pups offshore."
Despite having three sightings in a row, Dr Naylor ruled out the possibility of the Spanish coast becoming a shark hotspot.
He explained that shark sightings can come in waves, one year several incidents will be documented in the same area, only to have nothing on record the following year.
"In general, we'll have one particular part of the world where there might be four or five shark bites within four or five miles of one another within two to three months. But then nothing would happen the subsequent year.
"One year it’s Long Island, the next year it’s Hawaii, these spikes kind of come in waves.
"So it doesn’t necessarily mean that that place will become a dangerous shark hotspot," Dr Naylor said.
According to the International Shark Attack Archives, there have only been six confirmed unprovoked attacks in Spain since 1847.
In 2018, tourists ran out of the water in panic after a blue shark emerged off the Calas de Majorca beach.
In 2016, a blue shark was blamed for attacking a tourist further down the coast in Elche, near Alicante.
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