'I went on social media and joked afterwards that Jaws had entered the harbour!'
Children playing in the sea at the Cornish coast were left running and screaming in terror after spotting a shark.
The 10ft long basking shark, thought to be a juvenile. was easily spotted through the clear waters at St Ives Harbour in Cornwall last night.
A group of around 20 children fled the water as soon as they spotted the shark’s dorsal fin from around 20ft away.
The sea creature swam next to the harbour wall and beach. where the group of youngsters were playing at around 9pm.
Andy Narbett, who runs Tiger Lilly Boat Trip St Ives, caught the terrifying moment on video and in pictures.
He explained: ‘I had finished my trips for the day and was walking around the harbour front when I spotted the juvenile basking shark next to the harbour wall.
‘It was incredible to see it so close, and very rare as we haven’t seen any basking sharks for some years in the bay.
‘The poor kids who were in the water must have only been 20ft from it.
‘They didn’t realise it was harmless so they started screaming and got straight out of the shallow water.
‘At a guess there were 20 kids playing on the small beach and eight in the water on paddle boards.
‘I went on social media and joked afterwards that Jaws had entered the harbour!’
Basking sharks – Cetorhinus maximus in Latin – pose no threat to humans and feed only on plankton.
They used to be fished for their meat, fins and liver oil until the species became protected in 1998.
They are Britain’s biggest fish and can grow to 40ft in length and can weigh over 10,000lbs.
They are the second biggest fish in the world after the whale shark.
Basking sharks are one of only three shark species to feed on plankton and come into shallow water in the spring and summer months to feed.
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