Second shark spotted off popular tourist spot day after swimmers fled in panic

It came just a day after a previous sighting in off the coast of Alicante

Pictured, stock image of a tintorera, known as a blue shark (BBC)

A second shark has been spotted off the Spanish coast just a day after a previous sighting sent beachgoers fleeing in panic.

Tourists and locals were terrified after they saw a seven-foot tintorera, or blue shark, off the coast of Aguamarina Beach in Orihuela Costa south of Alicante on Friday, June 16.

And on Thursday, June 15, a shark was spotted on the shoreline off Aguamarina Beach in Orihuela Costa south of Alicante.

Tourists fled in panic and a good samaritan helped an elderly woman out of the water who was said to of had a panic attack when she spotted the shark beside her.

However, the shark believed to have been the one in yesterday's sighting, was found dead a couple of miles north.

The most recent sighting was spotted inside the Ciutadella Port in Menorca.

Because it was so close to the shoreline, some believe it may have been injured.

Biologist Juan Antonio Pujol told a local paper: "Coming across something like this when you're swimming in the water makes an impression but you should stay calm because they're not aggressive."

The shark was spotted at the start of a lifeguard service at the beach.

Shark attacks are generally rare overall, with confirmed unprovoked cases totalling 57 worldwide in 2022, according to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), which is lower than the most recent five-year (2017-21) average of 70 incidents annually.

The database suggests those that end in a fatality are even rarer, numbering just five of last year’s figure, which is roughly in line with the five-year global average of six unprovoked fatalities per year.

It adds there were an additional four shark-related deaths in 2022 that were classed as provoked.

However, the ISAF notes two of those unprovoked killings happened in Egypt’s waters, making it the highest, joint with South Africa, for fatal cases last year. It states two was also the country’s total figure for unprovoked shark bites, which means all attacks there resulted in death.

Although there were 41 unprovoked shark bites in the USA in 2022, the database shows only one resulted in death, while of the nine people who were bitten in Australia, all survived.