Map shows where sharks have been spotted and attacked swimmers near UK beaches

Sharks have been spotted at dozens of British beaches over the last five years, with a handful launching attacks on swimmers.

Over 40 shark sightings were recorded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency at beaches on the South Coast, Wales and the Highlands, Metro can reveal.

Mammoth twelve metre long basking sharks and endangered blue sharks are among the finned fish lurking British shores.

Of the dozens of sharks seen swimming in UK beaches, three mimicked the hit film Jaws and preyed upon innocent beachgoers.

One shark mauling in Portrush, County Antrim in Northern Ireland led to a severe thumb and other minor injuries in June 2023.

A year earlier, a shark bit a swimmer in Penzance, Cornwall.

The most common shark seen on Britain’s coast also happens to be the most terrifying.

The basking shark, seen at least eight times times since 2020, is 12m long, up to six tonnes in weight and known for its gaping ‘cavernous mouth’.

The Wildlife Trust advises beachgoers never to touch basking sharks and stay four metres away from them at all times.

Another predatory shark recorded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is the tiger shark, which is ‘famous for eating just about anything they find’, according to ocean conservation group Oceana.

Tiger sharks are typically thought to inhabit in the Caribbean seas and Pacific islands, but they are clearly lurking off the UK, as one deceased tiger shark washed up on Mumbles beach in West Glamorgan, South Wales, in August 2023.

The most recent shark encounter on record was in the seaside town of Frinton-on-Sea in Essex.

The exclusive and quiet sandy beach was the home of a tope shark in at the end of November 2024.

Reassuringly, there have never been any recorded instances of tope sharks attacking humans.

Tourists looking to visit the UK’s most popular holiday beaches will also have to stay vigilant of sharks, as they scared off beachgoers in Brighton, Blackpool and Liverpool.

Two sharks over 3m in length were spotted in April 2022, while one deceased juvenile shark washed up on Blackpool’s shores early last year.

Dead sharks were behind 12 of the shark sightings since 2020, with those sharks often being taken by zoologists to be studied for research purposes.

These figures could only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to beach shark encounters, as there are over 40 shark species in UK waters, according to Shark Trust.

Some breeds, such as blue sharks, travel over 5,700 miles (9,200km) in a single trip to the British coast.

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