Two sharks spotted off Italian beach

Pisa, Aug 21 (IANS/AKI) Two small blue sharks seen cruising in the shallows alarmed bathers at a beach resort near the Italian's Tuscan city of Pisa, reports said on Monday.

The sharks were spotted at Calambrone on Sunday and returned to the deep when lifeguards rowed towards them, according to regional daily La Nazione.

Both sharks were less than a metre long and were juveniles, the paper said.

In July, another small shark's fin was spotted close to the shore in Calambrone. Lifeguards there said they believed the fish was also a blue shark and escorted it back out to sea, La Nazione said.

 

The previous month, lifeguards on the Spanish Mediterranean holiday island of Majorca pulled an injured 2.4 metre blue shark from the sea after terrified beach-goers spotted it prowling near the shore at Illetas.

Tourists and locals took photos with their mobiles and selfies of themselves by the injured shark, before it was put into a Palma Aquarium emergency rescue vehicle.

Adult blue sharks measure between two and six metres and can pose a danger to humans. There are just four reports since 1580 of fatal bitings by the species and a total of 13 attacks.

--IANS/AKI

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