Shark sighting closes Spanish beach

A shark sighting – the second in as many weeks – has led authorities to close several tourist-packed beaches in south-eastern Spain, emergency services said today.

A life guard and several bathers spotted the five-foot shark just 10 yards off the coastline yesterday afternoon, said Luis Gestoso, head of Civil Protection in Murcia.

Seven beaches in the tourist area of La Manga del Mar Menor were immediately closed, and signs warned beachgoers of the sighting, Gestoso said.

“It’s very rare to see a shark so close to the beach, now we’re trying to find out if he’s ill,” Gestoso said.

He said a team of biologists, and veterinarians were at sea trying to follow the shark’s trail and would try to capture him with a special cage to move him to a marine reserve ecosystem.

It is the second shark sighted on the Spanish coastline this month. On August 23, a seven-foot female sandbar shark was captured in shallow waters in north-eastern Spain, where it had become a novelty for tourists by swimming regularly into plain view.