This from the Observer:
Simon Greenstreet was in his element. As the sun sparkled off the sea close to Ullapool, on the west coast of Scotland, the marine biologist was enjoying a productive day's diving with his wife Wendy and two friends.
Then, at 2:30pm on 4 July last year, came the sight that no one present thought possible - a triangular fin slicing the water's surface. The shark kept approaching, sliding alongside their 19ft boat. From its size to its colour to its shape to the way it nudged up to their vessel, those on board were convinced of one thing - this was a great white shark in British waters.
That same day, 600 miles away, Richard Pierce was bobbing off the Cornish coast. The 55-year-old was hoping to encounter that dorsal fin so distinct to the millions who have seen Jaws . As chairman of the Shark Trust, Pierce had set sail from Padstow that morning determined to become the first man to photograph a great white in UK waters. Years of tracking the species across the world had convinced Pierce the predator had arrived in Britain.
The last confirmed sighting of a great white in European waters was in 1997 when a female was found in the Bay of Biscay, 250 miles from Cornwall. Tagging experiments show great whites can travel 7,000 miles in three months.'They are global nomads, travelling such a distance to Britain would be nothing,' said Pierce.
Despite this appetite for globe-trotting, the last fatal shark attack in Europe was 20 years ago. The most recent shark attack in Britain was in 1996 in the North Sea. However scientists now believe more are to come.
You have been warned.
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