Kent: Shark sighted again off beach at Herne Bay panicking swimmers

A shark has been sighted again off the coast of Kent.

Panicked swimmers fled for safety – on the hottest day of the year – after seeing the fin of the shark emerge to the surface – only 25 yards away from the shore of Herne Bay.

Now it has been spotted by Abi Bell further along the coast near Reculver.

Natalie Worral, who was on the beach with her mum Julie, when they spotted it yesterday, tweeted: "Never thought I'd live to see the day everyone runs out of the sea because there's a shark, in Herne Bay!!!!!!!"

Thames coastguard however said it was too early for shark sightings.

A spokesman told KentOnline: "This happens every year - people often mistake the bigger fish, like whale sharks, for something deadly.

"It is very rare for anything dangerous to be in the water in this country."

Bryony Chapman, marine policy officer at the Kent Wildlife Trust, said it would be difficult to identify the sighting.

She said: "Basking sharks sometimes come into quite shallow water - they follow the plankton about so they can come in quite close.

"But with a basking shark you would expect to see two fins and the nose above the water.

"Blue sharks also wash up very occasionally, as do cat sharks, but we also get reports of dolphins and porpoises off the coast."