Authorities kill shark scaring tourists in Spain

Authorities have captured and killed an eight-feet-long blue shark that caused momentary panic and forced tourists out of the sea at a resort on the Island of Mallorca over the weekend.

The shark was first spotted on Saturday as it swam in shallow waters just off the beach at one of the island's most popular tourist spots, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bathers, including children, rushed out of the sea, while many took photos and videos of the fish, which they posted on social media. The images showed the shark to be just yards from the shoreline.

Civil Guards and Civil Protection workers continued to monitor the beach and captured the shark on Sunday.

Experts from the nearby Palma Aquarium discovered the shark was suffering from a serious injury which had been caused by a harpoon and it was put down.

It is thought that the injury had disoriented the fish, causing it to swim much closer to shore than normal for a blue shark.

--IANS

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