Nature & Environment

'Large creature' shuts down beach in England

By T.K. Randall
August 7, 2021 ·  5 comments

Was it a shark... or something else ? Image Credit: Raimond Spekking CC BY-SA 4.0 According to reports, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) instructed all swimmers to leave the ocean immediately on Wednesday after a "large marine animal" was spotted in the water.

"Significant movement" was observed amongst the waves by several witnesses and while many suspected that it might have been a shark, nobody was able to determine for sure what type of creature was responsible.

"I'm on the beach at Boscombe where the RNLI have had to red flag the beach due to reported sightings of a shark," said beach-goer Steve Lutwyche.

"The lifeguard called everyone out of the water. They discreetly referred to sightings of a 'large marine animal' so as to not scare any children.""Lifeguard crew patrolled the bay on a personal watercraft trying to spot it."

But could the animal have really been a shark ? While shark attacks off the coast of the UK are rare, they have been known to happen - meaning that the risk is certainly not zero.

Then again, there is also the possibility that the creature could have been something else entirely.

Fortunately in this case, however, the water was deemed safe to re-enter a mere 30 minutes later.

Source: BBC News | Comments (5)

Tags: Beach, Shark