Holidaymakers evacuated from Mallorca beach due to 'shark' sighting

Tourists at a popular beach in Mallorca were rushed out of the sea after the sighting of what at first was believed to have been a blue shark

Many of the holidaymakers ran out of the sea, and lifeguards in the area evacuated the surf after a tintorera or blue shark approached the shoreline and stalked through the shallows. However, later on, it was confirmed that it was not a shark but a dolphin that came so close to the shoreline at Mallorca's Playa de Muro beach, reported Majorca Daily Bulletin.

The shark-dolphin drama in Mallorca

The dolphin swam along the line of buoys that mark the swimming area. While it is common to see dolphins, they don't usually swim close to the shore when there are people around.

Fortunately, no injuries took place amid all the panic and there is no record of a major incident as well. The dolphin disappeared after a few minutes, reported Mirror.

The incident took place on Thursday at Playa de Palma, a beach in Mallorca that stretches for nearly four miles. It sits between Can Pastilla and the former fishing village of El Arenal which attracts hordes of British, German and Dutch holidaymakers in the summer months.

Several shark sightings this summer

The latest drama full of panic comes after several sharks were spotted in June off the Balearic Islands as well as the Costa Blanca. On June 24, a seven-foot blue shark was captured in a video gliding through the water at Calo des Moltons. It is a small pebbled cove in the north of Ibiza which is a popular spot for snorkelling.

The said sighting of a shark happened just over a week after a shark ignited panic at Aguamarina beach in Orihuela Costa south of Alicante two days earlier. On the same day, it was also reported that the same species of shark had been spotted inside Ciutadella Port in Menorca.

Speaking of Mallorca, last month a grey cow shark swam close to a boat belonging to a group of fishermen off Cap de Formentor, one of the Spanish towns popular among UK holidaymakers, near Puerto Pollensa. The shocked fishermen acted quickly and decided to turn the boat engine off so that they wouldn't hurt the shark.

While blue sharks rarely bite humans, they do not have a flawless record of targeting people. There have been multiple reports of the species biting humans with at least four ending in deaths.

In July 2016, a blue shark was blamed for an attack on a tourist in Elche near Alicante. The 40-year-old victim was rushed to hospital and given stitches to a wound in his hand. The doctors had described the bite as "large" and said he had come out of the sea with blood streaming from the injury.

In general, unprovoked shark bites have decreased over the past decade.

Regarding the concerns of so many sightings of sharks this summer in Spain, Oceanographer Gador Muntaner has dismissed any danger of these blue sharks. "If they're near the coast, it's usually because they're weak, disorientated or have parasites. It's almost impossible for a tintorera [blue shark] to kill someone. It's much more likely you'll be hit by lightning," said Muntaner.

Two beaches shut down in Spain

Meanwhile, it has also been reported that at least two beaches in Spain have been shut down due to sewage leaking into the water and turning the surf a filthy brown. The Carlotti Cove in Santa Pola and Playa de las Villas de Pilar de la Horadada, in Alicante, will remain closed until the water is deemed clean enough for bathers to venture into.

Trini Ortiz, town councillor for infrastructure, said there had "been a failure in the pump that drives the water collected in Santa Pola del Este to the treatment plant."

It is understood that Spain is not the only country affected by pollutants in the water. The UK is regularly struck by similar spills of sewage.