Is this a great white shark off the coast of Cornwall?

Footage has emerged this week of what could be a great white shark in the sea off Cornwall.

Fisherman Nigel Hodge, 44, was on his boat 20 miles off Falmouth when he spotted it on the port side of his boat and pulled out his mobile phone to film it.

Shark experts who have viewed his footage said it was certainly not native to British waters and that it was ‘probably a great white’.

Mr Hodge, who runs fishing and boat trips with his Cornish Fishing business, was fishing when he spotted the enormous creature, which he estimated at more than 12ft long, circling his boat.

“I was fishing on the starboard side and went to the port side to get the deck hose when I saw it,” said Mr Hodge.

The fisherman said he didn’t want to suggest what he thought, but common consensus on his Cornish Fishing Facebook page, where he posted the footage, was that it was either a great white or an oceanic whitetip.

David Turner, a shark specialist and author of The Shark Fisherman, said: “If the fish was was 14ft long, it probably was a great white – it wouldn’t be the first off Falmouth.”

He said a similar sized shark was seen off Falmouth last year, and said it was most likely swimming around looking for food.

Shark aficionado Roger Bowring wrote “Looks like a small great white,” before adding “The more I look at it, the more it looks like a great white.”

A source at Falmouth coastguard said they haven’t had any reported sightings of a great white.

“We do get sharks of various types off the coast of Cornwall, it’s not unusual, but they’re primarily the large basking sharks.”

Experts said it was a basking shark because of its shape and its fins, and also ruled out other species such as mako, porbeagle, bull shark or thresher.

Great Whites usually prefer warmer waters than those around Britain, but scientists have warned they may be tempted to the southern British coastline as sea temperatures rise, particularly after a hot summer.

Earlier this year a great white named Lydia was spotted 1,000 miles off the south west, having swum 19,000 miles across the Atlantic from America.  Marine biologists said it appeared to be heading for Britain, where the mild weather had left the sea teeming with smaller fish to eat.

This afternoon the Shark Trust played down fears of a killer circling our shores, saying it was most likely a young basking shark.

Ali Hood, director of conservation, said: “We’re yet to have a verified sighting of a white sharks in our waters. We do have an environment that is suitable.”

What do you think? Great White? Basking Shark? Seaweed? Just Bluefish? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk