Watch the shark video

Just as summer arrives in Cornwall so does a story that's guaranteed to excite interest. Two holiday-makers have videoed what they believe was a great white (man-eating) shark in the sea off St Ives.

The reports have generated alarmist headlines in the international press - “panic sets in” (Sydney Morning Herald) and “stick to the swimming pool” (Gulf Times) - but the only people panicking appear to be the Cornish tourist agencies. After the wettest start to a summer on record, the county’s economy needs to make full use of a hot August to attract beach-goers into the region’s seasonal bars, restaurants and hotels.

“The last thing we need is scare-mongering over some footage. The poor tourist industry this year is having a really hard time,” said Marc Thomas, duty watch manager at Falmouth Coastguard. “There has never been a confirmed sighting of a great white off the Cornish coast. It’s utter rubbish. We have never had a shark attack down here and we would urge people to take this with a pinch of salt. They are not the man-eating Jaws.”

Despite denials and denunciations of the reports from the Cornish tourist board, holidaymakers are obviously made of sterner stuff, there has been no impact on visitor numbers in the area.

The experts agree that the large shark which was filmed near swimmers at St Ives, a leading surfing destination, is unlikely to be the species that starred in the 1970s film. They are however refusing to rule it out.

Richard Peirce, the chairman of the Shark Trust, has watched the footage and cannot be sure what kind of shark is shown. He has investigated more than 80 sightings of great whites in British waters and believes that a handful of those are credible.

“The big surprise is that we’ve not had any confirmed sightings in the past. Our conditions are perfect – our temperatures are well within those tolerated by great whites,” he said.

The shark conservationist and researcher has his own categorisation for the sightings, which he always investigates thoroughly. Mr Peirce feels the latest sightings belong in the “possible” group. Most, up to 95 per cent, fall into the “total b*****ks” category, while one or two he regards as actively credible, "but cannot be officially confirmed”.

The most likely scenario, however, is that the shark in the video obtained by The Sun newspaper is a porbeagle. This British species of shark shares the flashes of white and jumping ability of the great white, which may explain how the footage from Cornwall resembles the most feared species of shark. Rather than Hollywood character actors, the porbeagle prefers to dine on bony fish such as mackerel and herring.

The films recorded on separate occasions off the popular Porthmeor beach by Catherine Price and Nick Fletcher, are not the only possible sightings of the man-eaters in the UK recently.

In 2003, the marine biologist Simon Greenstreet claimed to have seen one off the coast of Western Scotland. “The shark approached and swam alongside the boat, very much giving us the once over. . . this was absolutely definitely not a basking shark. . . I was convinced in my own mind that this was a great white shark – I could think of nothing else that this could be.”

The previous summer, lobster fisherman Brian Bate had a similar experience when he saw a shark leap out of the water. “I thought, what the **** was that? It was quite a size to come right out of the water. . . when I approached there was all this blood in the water, which sort of alarmed me.”

With sea temperatures suitable for great white sharks and fish stocks sufficient it is likely that the sharks are at least occasional visitors to British waters. However, long line fishing and deliberate shark hunting have dramatically reduced the numbers in the Atlantic, making sightings in the UK increasingly unlikely.

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