JERSEY BEACH EVACUATED AFTER RARE SHARK SIGHTING

Beachgoers at St Ouen's Bay in Jersey were evacuated from the water on Saturday 1st August following a shark sighting close to the shore. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) closed the beach and red-flagged it for 45 minutes after lifeguards spotted the creature approximately 40 metres from the water's edge. One lifeguard reported seeing a dark grey shark, estimated at around 3.6 metres long, swim directly beneath their rescue board. The RNLI surveyed the area using a jet ski before concluding there were no further signs of the animal, and no sightings have been reported since.

Surf instructor Jesse Heddercott was teaching people to surf when the evacuation took place. He told the BBC that one lifeguard initially spotted the shark swimming beneath a rescue board but initially thought it might be a tuna, before a second lifeguard confirmed it as a shark. Mr Heddercott said the creature would have been "more scared of us than we are of them". The species of shark has not been confirmed, though the sighting occurred less than a month after a 4-foot shark was spotted in Weymouth, Dorset, which a marine engagement assistant for the Dorset Wildlife Trust identified as a blue shark.

The incident marks the first known shark-related beach closure in Jersey's recorded history. The RNLI spokesperson stated that the decision to evacuate beachgoers was taken as a precaution. Blue sharks are reported to be present in UK waters during this period of the year, according to marine wildlife authorities.