Dramatic footage shows the moment beachgoers run for safety after spotting a shark stalking the Spanish coastline.
Sunseekers were urged by lifeguards to get out of the sea as quickly as possible when the sea creature at Aguamarina Beach, south of Alicante in Spain, around 10am on Thursday morning.
One elderly lady is said to have suffered a panic attack at the scene after realising the shark was beside her, and was seen being helped out of the sea by others.
Initial local reports pointed to it being a blue shark about seven-foot long.
Local police joined emergency responders in searching for the marine animal without success, and it is understood to have swum back out to sea without being seen.
While shark-human encounters are not usually a major problem at resort towns in Spain, a few hair-raising incidents have been witnessed over recent years.
On Friday, footage emerged of another shark, also described as a tintorera, in the water inside Ciutadella Port in Menorca.
Its early-morning appearance so close to the shoreline sparked speculation it could be injured.
A video of it gliding through the water coincided with news the shark sighted at Aguamarina Beach had been found dead a couple of miles north.
A local weather webpage, which posted footage of the tintorera on its side in the sea by rocks close to a strip of sand where people were sunbathing, said: “The seven-foot shark that approached the shoreline has died.”
A seagull was filmed standing on top of the shark as the waves lapped over it at La Caleta Beach in Cabo Roig.
Biologist Juan Antonio Pujol told a local paper: "Coming across something like this when you're swimming in the water makes an impression but you should stay calm because they’re not aggressive."
Back in 2016, a blue shark was blamed for an attack on a holidaymaker further down the coast in Elche, near Alicante.
The 40-year-old victim was rushed to hospital and given stitches to a wound in his hand.
First aiders described the bite as “large” and said he had come out of the sea with blood streaming from the injury.
Another incident in 2018 saw tourists run in panic after a blue shark, among the most common in Spain, appeared off the packed Majorcan beach of Calas de Majorca on the island’s east coast.
It follows reports that a tiger shark which killed a 23-year-old Russian tourist in Egypt earlier this month is now being embalmed so it can be preserved for a museum display.
Vladimir Popov was eaten alive while swimming at a popular beach in Hurghada, Egypt, and screamed "Papa, papa" as the shark attacked him in front of horrified onlookers.
On Wednesday, it was confirmed that the body parts of the man were recovered from inside the shark's belly.
Amr Zakaria Hamouda, head of the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries in Egypt, said the animal was mummified and is being prepared for an exhibition in the Museum of Marine Sciences in Hurghada.
