Great White Red Herring
British authorities are stridently denying that the videos and still pictures showing a shark circling around just off a popular British beach show a great white shark. It is the start of the holiday season in Britain and the tourist areas cannot afford to have people afraid of the water. Does any of this sound vaguely familiar? Welcome to Amity.
The scare started after a tourist took pictures of a menacing-looking fin jutting from the water last week, 200 yards (metres) from the beach near the popular Cornish resort of St. Ives.
"Jaws 2" headlined the mass-market Sun tabloid Monday, publishing photos and a video of the alleged great white shark's fin and claiming Tuesday there might even be two.
But experts have lined up to insist that, while a great white cannot be ruled out, the sighting is far more likely to be a basking shark, quite common in British waters and entirely harmless to humans.
"Having now seen the pictures in the paper I can confidently say the most recent sighting is simply a basking shark," Richard Peirce, chairman of the Shark Trust, told the Independent daily.
The Cornish coastguard said the claims were "utter rubbish" and would not help tourist trade already hit by record rainfall.
"The poor tourist industry this year is having a really hard time. The last thing we need is scaremongering over some footage," said Marc Thomas of Falmouth Coastguard.
The Sun was unrepentant, quoting a "bombshell" confirmation by "leading Aussie shark watcher Dave 'Sharkman' Baxter" that the beast was definitely a great white, adding: "Her mate will be close by."
The British government has not helped matters with their proposed slogan* to boost tourism, we suspect: "Be a chum, go swimming." The Sun, meanwhile has even more photos today.
A HERO fled the sea in terror amid the Jaws panic engulfing Britain — after saving two girl cousins from a shark.
Frantic Joe Miller, 26, plunged into the waves to help the pair to safety after a dreaded fin passed within yards of them off a South Devon beach.
He then scrambled for his own life. Student Hannah Miller, 23, told yesterday how she and sister Freya, 20, thought Joe was JOKING as he screamed at them to get out of the water.
* Yes, we made that up. But just to beat the bureaucrats to the punch.
* Yes, we made that up. But just to beat the bureaucrats to the punch.
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Good Sharkkeeping Seal Of Approval — Friday, 10 August , 2007 @ 10:54 am
