'Celebrity shark' dies at Barcelona Aquarium

A shark captured in shallow waters where it had become a daily lure for tourists on a Spanish beach died today at the Barcelona Aquarium.

Biologists had said they did not expect the seven-foot female sandbar shark to survive because it stopped swimming after being taken to the aquarium on Monday and needed help from divers to keep moving and thus breathing.

A post-mortem will be carried out to determine the cause of death, the aquarium said in a statement.

Biologists captured the 200lb fish on Monday in knee-high water at Miracle beach in north-east Tarragona province, grabbing it with their bare hands and dragging it ashore.

The shark first turned up early last week and became a novelty by swimming regularly into plain view in very shallow water. Authorities closed the beach to bathers.

After the shark was taken to the aquarium, biologists determined its dorsal fin had been punctured by a harpoon and it had some kind of internal problem, possibly from swallowing an object.