Lifeguards took action to clear a British beach when a large shark was sighted patrolling the waters. The RNLI lifeguards used loudspeakers to instruct people to leave the water at St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, following multiple sightings of the dark grey shark measuring between 10ft to 12ft (3m to 3.6m) on a Saturday morning.
A local lifeguard mentioned that it was unprecedented for Jersey to close the beach due to a shark sighting, a rare occurrence in the British Isles. Lifeguard Tom Rolls expressed his disbelief upon receiving the report from a colleague regarding the shark’s presence in the lineup near Watersplash beach bar.
After red flags were raised and announcements made through the PA system, the beach reopened about an hour later with no reported injuries. In a separate incident in June, a 4.3-meter-long (14ft) smalltooth sand tiger shark washed up on Grève d’Azette beach, showing signs of life initially before passing away despite rescue efforts by responders.
Sand tiger sharks are typically found in tropical and subtropical waters like the Mediterranean. In August 2021, RNLI lifeguards in Dorset cleared a stretch of water off Boscombe and Bournemouth beaches following reports of a large marine animal, likely identified as a harmless basking shark. Similarly, in July 2012, surfers and swimmers were evacuated from Croyde Bay in Devon after a large fin was spotted offshore, believed to be from a basking shark within a designated safe swimming zone.
