Majorca beach evacuated after eight-foot-long shark swims in shallows

'It was eerie ... It was like something I’d only ever seen in a film'

British tourists were forced to evacuate a Majorca beach after a shark estimated to be eight feet long swam just metres from bathers.

Tourists and children were pictured leaving from the water after the blue shark was spotted on Illetas beach, near Magaluf, at the weekend.

The discovery prompted the closure of several more beaches in the area.

Lifeguards ordered everyone out of the water and raised red flags, while the Guardia Civil conducted a search of the coastline.

Musician Tim Prottey-Jones, 27, was on the beach with his wife, Angela, when swimmers began leave the water.

“I noticed people all coming out at the same time,” he told The Independent. “There was an eerie calm and parents were picking up their kids.

“I shouted to Angela, when I saw a fin in the shallow water. She didn’t believe me until she saw it.”

Mr Prottey-Jones said the lifeguards had use a paddle board to rescue one distant swimmer.

After the initial concern, Mr Prottey-Jones said there was excitement among the beach goers as they observed the “beautiful animal,” which was in just two feet of water.

“It was swimming by for a few minutes,” Mr Prottey-Jones added. “It was eerie, but swam past slowly and calmly. It was like something I’d only ever seen in a film.”

After swimming away, the shark later apparently returned and was pictured thrashing around on the sand, surrounded by onlookers.

It is believed the shark came so unusually close to the shore because it was disorientated from a wound it had sustained to the head.

Experts from the local Palma Aquarium captured the shark and later euthanised it after discovering the injuries.

“A hook was detected in the mouth of the animal, which caused irreversible damage,” the aquarium said in a statement.

Blue sharks are common to the Mediterranean but are generally regarded as harmless, preying mostly on smaller fish and squid.

However, one was blamed for an attack on a 40-year-old swimmer in Costa Blanca last summer.

The man’s hand was mangled after being bitten by a blue shark, known as a tintorera in Spanish.