Swimming ban on Spanish beaches by shark less than 100 meters from the coast | Abroad

Fragata, Ribera, Estanyol and Bassa Rodona: Four beaches in the touristy Spanish town of Sitges had to declare a bathing ban for more than an hour on Thursday. A shark was reported around 12:50 PM. The red flag went up at all four beaches. By 2:30 p.m. that flag was able to go down again because the shark had disappeared from the radar.

‘One of the fastest in the world’

It would be a mako shark, which according to the local authorities is not dangerous. In any case, no attacks on humans have been registered yet. But the shark species is considered to be one of the fastest in the world. The animal could reach a speed of 70 kilometers per hour and has a length of 3.5 to 4 meters.

On July 3, a ‘smaller’ shortfin mako shark was also spotted off the coast of Garraf, a little further away. Divers were then able to film the two and a half meter long specimen.

That the shark species was spotted twice in such a short time is, according to the local government, “remarkable.” The animal has not been captured once in the last ten years and is even classified as critically endangered on the Mediterranean coast.

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