Chilling moment 7ft shark circles yards from frightened tourists in France before beach is evacuated

• Swimmers frantically scrambled out of the water as the dorsal fin approached
• Lifeguards approached the shark with a boat but were unable to scare it away

Tourists enjoying the leisurely waters of the Mediterranean Sea on the outskirts of Perpignan this past weekend had their calm afternoon shattered when a shark snuck up to within mere yards of beachgoers, triggering a full-scale evacuation. 

Heart-pounding footage revealed the moment a collective gasp swept through the crowd and panic ensued as a gargantuan 7-foot shark was spotted menacingly approaching the shoreline. 

Swimmers were seen frantically scrambling out of the water as those already on the sand hot-footed it away from the shoreline as an unmistakable dorsal fin rose out of the water and headed for the beach. 

Lifeguards, ever-vigilant, wasted no time in raising the red flag as soon as they saw a ‘dark shape’, giving the beachgoers ample time to evacuate. 

Chief Lifeguard David Simian, recounting the intense incident to The Times, revealed: ‘Lifeguards took a boat out and saw it was a shark.’

Heart-pounding footage revealed the moment a collective gasp swept through the crowd and panic ensued as a gargantuan 7-foot shark was spotted menacingly approaching the shoreline

Lifeguards, ever-vigilant, wasted no time in raising the red flag as soon as they saw a ‘dark shape’, giving the beachgoers ample time to evacuate

Amidst the turmoil, the lifeguards acted swiftly, ushering holidaymakers away from the sea to avert any accidents amid the panic.

I’m a shark expert – here’s how to survive if you’re ever in an attack 12311351

Victor Salvat, another brave lifeguard, revealed that it was his first time witnessing a shark in the Mediterranean. The creature seemed strangely calm as the lifeguards approached in their boat, he said, adding that even the engine’s noise failed to startle it.

‘We watched it for about five minutes,’ Victor recounted. ‘It circled around us and it was about two meters long. At one point, it ended up under the dinghy, you could see its mouth and tail at the same time, so it was quite big. It was all black. It was really calm.’

After an intense hour of vigilance, the lifeguards deemed the water safe, and swimming resumed. 

Though the sighting had caused a massive scare, Simian ultimately established that the creature was a blue shark, which he said ‘posed no threat to humans’.

Blue sharks are not an uncommon sight during their reproductive season, but they rarely venture so close to shore.

But more and more sharks are being spied off the coast of many European beaches, particularly in Spain.

One shark sparked panic at Aguamarina beach on the Costa Blanca in June and two were spotted near the Costa Brava beach of Portbou last Sunday.

Last week, it was the turn of locals and holidaymakers at Praia Beach in the Atlantic resort city of Espinho in Portugal to clear the sea as yet another shark neared the sand. 

Children were seen gathering near the shoreline and shouting ‘shark’ as lifeguards observed the creature, but the threatening beast eventually disappeared after it swam back out into deeper water.

Shark attacks are rare, with Dr. Robert Latour, a professor of marine science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science telling CBS News, ‘an individual is far more likely to be struck by lightning than to be bitten by a shark.’ 

Locals and holidaymakers at Praia Beach in the Atlantic resort city of Espinho were left terrified as a shark circled in waters close to the shoreline

Florida is the shark bite capital of the world after 16 attacks took place in 2022

He cited data from the University of Florida showing that in 2022, there were 57 unprovoked bites worldwide — significantly lower than the 10-year average of 74 unprovoked bites annually.

But Jeff Corwin, an American biologist and wildlife conservationist, warned: ‘The truth is — when you’re in the water, if you’re in a healthy marine ecosystem… you’re often never more than 100 yards from a shark.

‘We’re often interacting with these species, and we don’t even know what to do about it.’

The United States tops the charts when it comes to unprovoked shark bites, accounting for about 72 percent of those recorded worldwide in 2022.

Of those, Florida accounted for nearly 40 percent of the unprovoked attacks in the country.

Australia came in second in terms of unprovoked shark bites in 2022, representing nearly 16 percent of the year’s total.

But it did not report any shark-related fatalities.

The total global number of shark attacks last year, however, was less than the average of 70 cases worldwide of the five years prior.

The total numbers in the U.S. also went down last year from 2021’s 47 reported attacks.

In 2022, there were five fatal unprovoked shark bites – two in Egypt, two in South Africa, and one in Hawaii.

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