A shark was spotted off the coast of southern England just yards from a popular swimming spot.
Sean Pepper was visiting his brother in Hastings when he saw a dark shape in the waves and got a shock when he zoomed in on his mobile phone.
The scaffolder can be heard saying incredulously on the tape: ‘You can see a shark’s fin sticking out of the water! A seal doesn’t have a fin like that!’
Sean Pepper was visiting his brother in Hastings when he saw a dark shape in the waves and got a shock when he zoomed in on his mobile phone
Mr Pepper, 34, had gone round to visit James, 36, with his daughter Skye, six, who was off school ill and needed cheering up.
Their mother Irene Pepper opened the window and Sean glanced out to sea from the second floor.
He said: ‘I saw it and was convinced straight away it was a shark fin. I zoomed in and you could see there was a fin, just like in the Jaws films.
‘We thought we’d have to go down and have a proper look.
‘You could see it so clearly. It kept swimming back and forward, going out and then coming back up. It looked like it was feeding.
‘After a while quite a few people had gathered watching.
The shark(pictured) was seen near the Azur restaurant at the Marina Pavilion, close to St Leonard’s Sea Front
‘You see a lot of people swimming down there so I posted it on Facebook as I wanted people to see it in case they were going in for a dip.’
The shark was seen near the Azur restaurant at the Marina Pavilion, close to St Leonard’s Sea Front.
Sean said he has never seen anything like it during his lifetime living in Hastings, which attracts 3.2m visitors a year.
‘I’ve never even heard people talking about them showing up here,’ Sean said. I’ve never even seen a dolphin round here.’
Sean said he has never seen anything like it during his lifetime living in Hastings, which attracts 3.2m visitors a year
Shark sightings are relatively common off the coast of Britain. There are more than 40 different species here, at least 21 of which live in UK waters all year round.
Shark expert Richard Peirce said sighting was most likely a basking shark or porbeagle, which he describes as ‘a mini Great White shark.’
But he also said he couldn’t rule out it being a Great White.
After watching the footage, the conservationist said: ‘Everyone wants to say it’s a Great White and hey, maybe it is.
‘I am one of those people who believes we occasionally get them. However there is not enough in this footage to be able to say with 100% certainty.
‘The most likely suspect would have to be a basking shark.
‘They are the second biggest fish in the sea in the whole world and they are actually very common around Britain.
‘One of the problems with seeing sharks off Britain – and there are heaps of sharks, over 30 different species – is that our weather is rubbish and you are only going to see a certain amount near the surface anyway.
‘Basking sharks are there pretty commonly, mostly off the west, you don’t see them in the Channel so often.
‘It is very unusual to see them, but it’s not unusual that they’re there.
Sean Pepper, 34, who spotted the shark and filmed it on his phone, with his daughter Skye, six
‘When the filmer said the shark was coming up and down to feed, he was probably right.
‘A basking shark is a plankton feeder and a porbeagle is a predator, it eats other fish.
‘Neither of them are dangerous. There are no recorded attacks by either of them.
‘The person who filmed this is really lucky. To see that off the beach is great. It’s a privileged sighting of a fantastic animal.’