A group of children on a sea safari trip were in for an experience when they spotted what appeared to be a great white shark fin in the ocean waters off the coast of Torquay, Devon, England.
After approaching the fin, the boat captain recognized that it was fake, considering it hadn't moved. The fin turned out to be part of a prank and wasn't part of a real shark. Someone carved solidified insulation foam into the shape of a dorsal fin, then painted it dark gray, according to a report by the Daily Mail.
Although the most recent sighting was a prank, some scientists anticipate great white sharks may soon visit the U.K. coast. Ocearch, a shark data organization geared toward scientists, will visit Britain next summer in search of the predatory fish.
As the ocean's largest predatory fish, great white sharks have both fascinated and sparked fear in people ever since the release of Jaws in 1975. Great whites have changed their location as part of migration patterns in the past, and there has been an uptick in sightings in places such as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In some areas of the world, great white shark sightings haven't been confirmed, although that may not be the case for much longer.
Although several people have thought they spotted a great white shark off the U.K. coast, none of the sightings have been confirmed. The closest confirmed sighting of a great white was in the Bay of Biscay in 1977, when a female great white was spotted 170 miles off the Cornwall coast. Purported sightings have likely been confused with the basking shark, which has a similar body shape and fins.
While 170 miles may seem far off the coast and out of the path of swimmers or beachgoers, if great whites change their migratory patterns, more sightings may be possible.
Simon Thorrold, senior scientist in the biology department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told Newsweek that great white sharks—particularly the juvenile and sub-adult sharks—are often found in somewhat shallow coastal waters.
The likelihood of encountering a great white shark while visiting the coast may spark fear in most people, but Thorrold said the odds of a great white shark encounter with a human on the U.K. coast would remain "vanishingly small."
Along the U.S. East Coast, shark season coincides with tourist season, and the likelihood of great white sightings or even encounters increase during the summer months, sometimes amounting to more than a dozen over one weekend. However, it is unlikely the U.K. will experience a similar event, considering that the great whites that may migrate up to the U.K. coast are already small in number, as their Mediterranean population is sparse.
Other shark species regularly swim in U.K. waters, including the blue shark, the thresher shark, the shortfin mako shark and many others.
