Fearless shark fans head out for snorkelling trip despite terrifying attack on woman during dive off Penzance
- Celtic Fox took off from Penzance with eight guests and three staff on board
- Snorkel tour is run by Blue Shark Snorkel Trips who had shark attack on trip
- The woman was injured in the first recorded shark attack of type in 175 years
Shark fans have fearlessly taken to the sea again to go snorkelling despite a woman being hurt last week in the first shark attack of its kind in 175 years.
The Celtic Fox ship left Penzance, Cornwall with eight guests and three staff today at 9am after it was announced yesterday that a swimmer’s leg had been bit by a shark.
The woman – who has not been identified – was with Blue Shark Snorkel Trips, who also ran the trip today, when the accident happened on Thursday, July 28.
She was left ‘screaming for help’ in what she branded a ‘very scary incident’ at sea.
Reacting to the news one local tourist said today: ‘Sharks or no sharks you wouldn’t find me out there.’
Another local who was informed by a reporter about the attack after being in the sea today said: ‘It’s a good thing you told us about the sharks after we’d been swimming!’
Last week a woman was bitten by a blue shark on one of its tours – the first recorded shark attack off Britain in 175 years. Pictured: Blue Shark Snorkel Trips
Trip organiser Victoria Walker (pictured), who runs Blue Shark Snorkel from Penzance harbour, told the Daily Mail last night: ‘We immediately enacted our emergency response plan, with first aid being carried out on the person involved.’
The Celtic Fox leaves the Penzance Harbour in Cornwall today
Those on board the Celtic Fox had a brief chat in the cabin before leaving to head out to sea – to swim among sharks.
People at the scene today said the company and its patrons were ‘cagey’ about speaking.
One onlooker said: ‘The general mood is positive, one customer on the way to suit up in their wetsuit in the office nearby just chuckled when asked about the incident.
‘Another woman, who said she worked with sharks, says she wasn’t worried at all.’
Speaking today, Steven Goddard, 59, explained that he’d seen sharks in the area before but was unconcerned.
He said: ‘I heard about what happened on the radio, I’m just down here sailing at the moment but I saw a shark just by the harbourside here yesterday.
‘It was a basking shark, which you get quite a lot of down this way. It’s the first one I’ve seen this year, but they’re getting very rare these days.
‘I’ve been sailing across the UK this year, I’ve been in Scotland, Wales, and down here, and I’ve seen very few sharks this year sadly.
‘They don’t bother me really, I’d go swimming with them. It’s a blue shark, and blue sharks don’t attack people. They eat mackerel – not people.’
A couple of local swimmers who had just left the water said they hadn’t even heard about the attack.
The woman – who has not been identified – was in Penzance, Cornwall, with Blue Shark Snorkel Trips when the accident happened on Thursday. She was swimming some 15 miles out to sea during the £180 per person excursion when the shark, unprovoked, suddenly bit her leg.
Ian Wesley, 57, has lived in Penzance for years and says that local swimmers are more afraid of the seals than sharks.
He explained: ‘It’s a good thing you told us about the sharks after we’d been swimming!
‘We get basking sharks out in the bay and for the last few years have had a humpback whale visit us, but I’ve never seen a shark.
‘One of the seals chases people every now and again, one woman even got her wetsuit torn by one and another man was chased across the entire bay a rather enthusiastic one.
‘The seals are honestly more dangerous than the sharks – they’re more interested and want to play with you. We get jellyfish too, but they are easy to spot.
‘I’ve actually wanted to go in with the sharks for a while, last time I went swimming with seals though one tried to mount me so I’m not to worried about sharks.’
A fellow swimmer Dave Fawcett, 65, who swims with the local ‘guys and gals’ swimming club, agreed that sharks are not a concern.
He added: ‘While of course it’s a bit uncomfortable if you’re swimming in the middle of a shoal of basking huge sharks with their mouths wide open, nothing around here is going to eat you.
‘I’ve been scuba diving with sharks in the Red Sea, and they’re much more dangerous, so it’s not worrying to be around some blue sharks – I’ve never seen any.
‘The main thing you want to avoid are the Portuguese Man of War jellyfish, ‘the devils pasty’, but they float on the surface so you can see them.’
One local tourist though was mildly concerned about the sharks, but admitted he didn’t like the water anyway.
Adrian Downey, 58, was drawing the view of the Penzance sea front and said he didn’t like the pool, let alone the sea.
He added: ‘Sharks or no sharks you wouldn’t find me out there. I read about the attack but I’m sure it’s something you have to take a risk to do.
‘I’m sure most people wouldn’t be put off, I would be but people tend to go out there to see something dangerous – and it’s a specialized tour, you’d think they would be ready to deal with bites.’
According to the Sun, the woman may have required minor plastic surgery following the vicious bite, while witnesses told the paper she let out ‘piercing screams’, adding that there was ‘blood everywhere.’
The unlucky adventurer had been swimming some 15 miles out to sea during the £180 per person excursion when the shark, unprovoked, suddenly bit her leg.
The swimmer was rushed back into the chartered boat where she was given immediate first aid and taken ashore for further treatment.
It is the first shark attack of its kind on a person in British waters since 1847. Several fishermen have been bitten in recent years but only after bringing the sea creatures on board their vessels.
The tour group said it was investigating how last week’s attack could have happened.
In a statement put out by the trip company on Tuesday afternoon, the bite victim said: ‘What was a very scary incident was made so much easier by the kindness and calmness of the people around me.
‘Thank you to the trip team for getting me back to shore quickly and carefully and making me feel as safe as I possibly could.
‘We all take these risks when we enter the habitat of a predator and we can never completely predict the reactions of a wild animal.’
The victim had been swimming in the waters off Cornwall after sailing 15 miles out to sea on the Celtic Fox (pictured) as part of a snorkelling excursion
The woman was rescued by the coastguard and left in the care of paramedics. HM Coastguard has confirmed that it is believed the injury was caused by a suspected shark bite.
The victim added that ‘despite how the trip ended’, it was ‘amazing to see such majestic creatures in the wild’.
She said: ‘I don’t for a second want this freak event to tarnish the reputation of an already persecuted species.’
Trip organiser Victoria Walker, who runs Blue Shark Snorkel from Penzance harbour, told the Daily Mail last night: ‘We immediately enacted our emergency response plan, with first aid being carried out on the person involved.
‘Following advice and assessment from the coastguard, the person walked off the boat and received further treatment ashore.’
Miss Walker, who wants to ‘help people overcome their fear of sharks’, added: ‘These occurrences can be blown out of control without a clear understanding and scientific back-up.
‘They are extremely rare and can be easily misunderstood.
‘These things can happen when we choose to interact with wild animals in their own environment. The last thing we want is to let speculation drive the media into a world of bad press for the sharks, under no fault of their own.’
A local shark fisherman said that he saw ‘massive’ blue sharks at the same spot the day before the bite incident.
An coastguard spokesperson said: ‘HM Coastguard sent Penzance Coastguard Rescue Team to meet a snorkeler who suffered a suspected shark bite.
‘The coastguard was notified just before 12.30pm on Thursday (July 28). It is believed the swimmer suffered a leg injury.
‘The coastguard team met the casualty at Penzance harbour to assist with passing them into the care of the ambulance service.’
The female swimmer is said to have been on a snorkelling trip to see blue sharks in Penzance harbour. Pictured: Blue shark stock image
Shark expert Richard Peirce told MailOnline: ‘It was most likely an exploratory bite, sharks obviously do not have hands or feet, they have mouths. They are very inquisitive creatures.
‘Hopefully this bite is relatively mild stuff but that is not to say that blue sharks cannot inflict much damage because they can.
‘I started the shark diving trips off Cornwall in 2006 and myself and my guides were always in the water with those we were taking out.
‘We used a Shark Billy, poles that we could prod away a shark if they got too close. You don’t want to be using your hands to do it.
‘I don’t know what’s happened on this occasion, I’ve heard that it was a tourist on a shark snorkelling trip who was injured, but the water would have been chummed first to attract the sharks.
‘The blood in the water would have stimulated the sharks senses and they would approach initially looking for dinner.
‘These sort of trips have to be handled both sensitively for the shark and also safely for those who are taking part. Hopefully the appropriate safety guidelines have been followed on this occasion.’
Blue Shark Snorkel Trips said in a statement: ‘We want to make everyone aware that we have had an incident.
‘These occurrences are extremely rare and can be easily misunderstood so we want this to be dealt with as sensibly as possible.
‘As we know, these things can happen when we choose to interact with wild animals in their own environment. The last thing we want is to let speculation drive the media into a world of bad press for the sharks, under no fault of their own.
‘We immediately enacted our emergency response plan, with first aid being carried out on the person involved.
‘Following advice and assessment from the coastguard, the person walked off the boat and received further treatment ashore.
‘We’ve tried to understand why it happened and are in continued talks with shark experts.’
The company did not respond to numerous phonecalls or messages and simply posted the information on its Facebook page.
Its website promises a ‘unique and unforgettable wildlife experience’ and the ‘chance to have up close and interactive encounters with blue sharks in their natural environment.’
Penzance Harbour, where the organised excursion had set off from before the bit happened
While you do not need to have a diving qualification, some previous experience with snorkelling is required.
A spokesman for Visit Cornwall told the Telegraph there was no reason for tourists to be concerned, adding: ‘You don’t have to worry as long as you swim on a lifeguarded beach.
‘Sharks don’t eat people off Cornwall and we certainly don’t get Great Whites in our waters. There’s no need to close the beaches at this stage.’
Several species visit the Cornish waters every year, including blue sharks, porbeagle sharks and basking sharks – who do not tend to attack humans – but shark attacks remain rare, especially in the UK.
The British Sea Fishing website said: ‘Blue shark attacks on humans are extremely rare but have been recorded. In total, on a world-wide basis, there are four confirmed cases of fatal blue shark attacks on humans with twenty-five confirmed non-fatal attacks.
‘In August 2012 a beach in Ceredigion, Wales was closed to bathers due to the presence of a blue shark.
‘The shark was spotted swimming in between boats and came very close to the shore, swimming past tourists in just a few feet of water.
‘Later in the same month another beach in West Dorset had to be closed for an hour and a half due to another blue shark.’
In 2017 surfer Rich Thomson was also apparently bitten on the thumb by what was believed to be a smooth hound – a relative of sharks.
The last recorded unprovoked ‘attack’ was at Felixstowe when a windsurfer’s board was bitten by a shark in 2016.
Despite this, the windsufer sustained no injures and shark bites tend to only happen when provoked during fishing or other activities.
Blue sharks are one of many species lurking off the coast of Britain – and they are not the only shark to have attacked in recent years
Daring Stephen Perkins (pictured), 52, had just hauled a blue shark into his boat for a commemorative photograph when it sunk its teeth into his forearm in September 2008 – leading him to need reconstructive surgery
Blue sharks are fearsome predators which return to the UK coastline seasonally to feed on the abundant stocks of mackerel and other fish in British waters.
Adult males can reach lengths of almost 3 metres (10 feet), while females can grow even larger, growing an extra foot in length. Earlier this year fishermen caught a huge 9ft 2in shark off the Welsh coast.
The predators are one of the widest ranging species, feeding in waters from Norway to Soutch Africa and despite their fearsome appearance, these sharks are under threat.
In recent years their numbers have declined by as much as 60 per cent and their conservation status is now ‘near threatened’.
They are one of a range of species of sharks which lurk off the coast of the UK, including porbeagle, gulper and kitefin sharks – however attacks are rare.
1937: In the morning of September 1 off the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, steamship captain Angus Brown took members of his family on a pleasure trip on his dinghy.
Several basking sharks, which can reach 26ft long and are not known to attack humans, were seen in the waters.
It is thought one of the animals collided with the boat, capsizing it. Captain Brown, his 10-year-old son and another unnamed family friend all drowned.
1956: Two men were killed after an encounter with a shark off The Lizard in Cornwall – but it wasn’t quite how you’d imagine.
Richard Kirby and Leslie Nye, from the Admiralty Yard Craft Service, were providing support for divers when a shark was spotted in the water.
They joined one of their comrades in a small boat to scare away the predator by pelting it with boxes of TNT.
But one of them got too close and snagged around the shark’s dorsal fin, turning it into a living torpedo. The animal slammed into their boat and killed them both.
September 2008: A fisherman had to undergo reconstructive surgery after becoming the first person to be bitten by a Blue shark off the British coast in 2008.
Daring Stephen Perkins, 52, had just hauled the fish into his boat for a commemorative photograph when it sunk its teeth into his forearm.
Risky business: Stephen Perkins holds the head of the Blue Shark moments before it nearly bit his hand off
It caused deep puncture wounds and Stephen lost so much blood that an RAF Sea King helicopter was scrambled to collect him off the Devon coastline.
September 2012: An experienced fisherman was left terrified after a shark clamped its jaws around his foot and bit a hole in his boat.
The 7ft porbeagle took hold of Hamish Currie’s steel toe-capped boot after his crew caught it and hauled it on to the deck of their vessel.
Mr Currie, 53, managed to free himself with the help of one of his crew, but was left shaken by the experience.
The skipper targeted the shark after hearing reports of it attacking seals off Islay in the Inner Hebrides.
May 2018: A fisherman suffered horrific wounds and was airlifted to hospital after he was bitten on the leg by a close relative of the Great White shark on a fishing boat off the coast of Cornwall.
The 7ft porbeagle became known as ‘the Beast’ following an attack in May 2018
Max Berryman, 21, who was said to have experienced a 10-inch shark bite down his leg muscle, was taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro by a coastguard rescue helicopter.
The young angler, from Penzance, suffered leg injuries when a porbeagle shark was brought on deck in the trawler’s nets and the crew was attempting to release it back into the water.
June 2017: Rich Thomson, 30, was swimming off the coast of Devon when he was bitten on the thumb by what was believed at the time to have been a three-foot smooth hound shark.
The teacher bashed the fish on the head and it swam away. The terrifying encounter left him with extensive bruising and his hand ‘cut to pieces’.
Experts said it was the first incident involving a surfer in British waters, and one of only a handful of attacks in the past 100 years.
April 2021: Last year, a monster porbeagle shark weighing 22 stone and measuring eight-foot long was reeled in off the Devon coast.
August 2021: The RNLI closed a busy Dorset beach last summer after a shark was reportedly spotted in the water.
RNLI lifeguards at a Dorset beach put up red flags and searched the sea on jet skis
RNLI lifeguards put up red flags, the signal to warn swimmers of a serious hazard in the water and put out a tannoy announcement telling people to get out of the sea.
Lifeguards on jet skis then spent 20 minutes searching the water off Boscombe beach in Bournemouth after three reports of some kind of ‘large marine life’ under the water, an RNLI spokesman said.
August 2021: The same month, a postman recalled the moment he came face-to-face with a huge shark while snorkelling off the coast of Cornwall.
Martin Yelland, 38, was diving just off the coast of Penzance when the blue shark swam straight towards him.
It stuck around for about an hour, before being scared off by a pod of 80 dolphins.
Mr Yelland, who lives in St Erth, Cornwall, takes wildlife photographs in his spare time. He said: ‘It was a really memorable encounter.’
July 2022: Footage showed the moment a ’12ft foot’ shark is spotted off the coast of Wales last month.
It showed the large fish slowly drifting in ‘waist deep’ water near to the popular resort of Tenby in Pembrokeshire.
The video was filmed by Alex Brace, a member of a local sailing club in Tenby, who was standing in the water docking a boat at the time
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