'Alleged' Great white shark sighting off Cornwall.

22/08/2006 00:00:00 Recent reports and videos of a Great white shark off Cornwall don't appear to hold much water. Of two videos showing on the Sun website (Click The Sun), one is clearly a Basking shark, and the other, which sparked the debate, shows a very blurred video of dolphins 'porpoising' and an almost indistinguishable shape breaching.

Richard Peirce, Chairman of the Shark Trust, states that he did not confirm that it was a Great white. It may well be a shark, but is much more likely to be a porbeagle or mako, both of which occur off Cornwall. A spokesman for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust wasn't sure that it was a shark at all.

Great white spotted in 2003
In 2003 there were reports, unsubstantiated, that a Great white had been seen off the south coast, much publicised in .... The Sun.

Great white sharks in the UK
There is no concrete evedience that Great white sharks have ever reached British shores. Although known in the Mediterranean, no Great white has ever been officially recorded north of the Bay of Biscay. It is not known why this should be as the occur in warmer and colder climes, and are particularly fond of seals, which the UK has a large population. However on the other side of the coin, those sharks that do occur in UK waters have been in sharp decline recently, so it seems unlikely that new species will be moving in.