This is the moment a huge shark that can grow to an intimidating 32.8ft was spotted lurking off the coast of a Spanish holiday hotspot popular with Brits. The enormous shark was captured skulking around the waters just off the coast of Marbella on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
This animal was identified as a basking shark which can weigh up to six tonnes. The creature is a giant of the oceans and is considered one of the largest sharks in the world. Footage of the encounter was shared by Aqua Time Marbella, a water sports club, on their Instagram page.
They shared the video with the caption: “Basking shark sighting off the coast of Marbella. Never in our 35-year history have we seen anything like it!”
The team marvelled at the incredibly rare close-up sighting of the creature.
The video, which has over 12,00 views. shows the shark gliding through the waters with its fin just visible above the water.
As the shark moves past the group, its mammoth size can be seen under the water’s surface, leaving onlookers stunned. Basking sharks can grow to the size of a double-decker bus.
They typically feed on plankton and small marine organisms with their teeth, which are barely half a centimetre long.
As they move through the water feeding, they will often twist their bodies around, sometimes performing a full 360 degree roll.
However, due to their mammoth size these sharks are often mistaken for the dangerous great white shark.
The sharks spend much of the summer months at the sea’s surface, moving slowly, this behaviour earned them the name ‘basking shark’
Basking sharks are common across European waters, and have even been seen around the UK coastline. They are frequently found in all British coastal waters during the summer months, their hotspots are the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, Devon and Cornwall.